President Bush Ahead Of Kerry In New Poll

The Associated Press reports that a new poll finds President Bush tied with Kerry:

The Republican incumbent had the backing of 46 percent, Kerry 45 percent and Nader, the 2000 Green Party candidate who entered the race last month, was at 6 percent in the survey conducted for The Associated Press by Ipsos-Public Affairs.

In another example of media bias, the AP headline and opening sentence assert that President Bush and Kerry are "tied." While some reports about polls point out that a race may be a statistical dead heat when the difference is within the poll's margin of error, the Associated Press doesn't bother to clarify that detail.

The poll also showed a slight improvement in President Bush's approval rating:

Bush's job approval in the AP-Ipsos poll was 48 percent, with 49 percent disapproving, which is essentially the same as last month when 47 percent approved of the president's job performance.

Again the Associated Press fails to recognize the admittedly slight improvement for President Bush.

The most interesting aspect of the poll is the indication that Nader may actually be a significant force in the election.

This poll represents good news for President Bush as it was taken before the new Bush-Cheney campaign ads appeared.

The AP-Ipsos poll of was conducted March 1-3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.