New Fox Poll Finds Presidential Race Tied

The race for the presidency is in a 44% to 44% tie according to a new Fox News poll.

There is plenty of good news in this poll for President Bush:

Majorities say the country is safer today than before 9/11 (58 percent) and agree with Bush’s view that taking military action abroad is necessary to keep from fighting terrorists on U.S. soil (57 percent).

Most rate the quality of life for Americans as either excellent (30 percent) or good (45 percent), and almost two-thirds (62 percent) rate their current personal financial situation positively. In addition, those rating their financial situation as “excellent” doubled in the last three months. Compared with five years ago, a plurality (42 percent) says their financial situation is better today, a quarter say worse and about a third say their financial situation is the same today as it was five years ago.

In addition, a majority today feels optimistic about the nation’s economy and over a third feels pessimistic — the same as six months ago. The poll finds that economy-related issues continue to be the most common conversation topic with friends and neighbors right now, with the next closest being Iraq/terrorism.

An interesting finding of the Fox poll is that President Bush's support is much more committed than Kerry's. 75% of those favoring President Bush "strongly support" him. Only 55% of those favoring Kerry "strongly support" him.

The Fox poll also offers support for the recent Associated Press poll which found 6% supporting Nader. The Fox poll found 11% supporting "Not sure/Other." This number is up 2% from two weeks ago.

Polling for the Fox poll was conducted March 3-4, 2004 and has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.