President George W. Bush moved ahead of Democrat John Kerry in a Los Angeles Times poll published 26 August 2004, which gave Bush 49 percent to Kerry's 46, his first clear lead in several weeks. A CNN survey the same day found the race effectively tied, while a George Washington University poll put Kerry ahead by two points.
The LA Times attributed part of Kerry's slippage to television ads by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group accusing Kerry of embellishing his Vietnam War service. On Iraq and counterterrorism, poll respondents favored Bush by wide margins: 53 to 41 percent on Iraq, 54 to 37 percent on protecting the country from terrorist threats.
The Bush campaign announced it would pursue court action to shut down unregulated political groups, known as 527s. Bush called Senator John McCain to discuss the effort. Campaign lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg stepped down after it emerged he had advised the Swift Boat group, though the White House denied any coordination with the veterans.
McCain, a Vietnam veteran set to speak at the Republican National Convention opening Monday in New York, called on all sides to stop revisiting the war. He said he preferred the debate focus on Kerry's postwar opposition to the conflict rather than his combat record.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.