WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (AFP) - President George W. Bush has pulled nine points ahead of his Democratic rival John Kerry, a Washington Post-ABC News poll said Friday, confirming a trend observed after the Republican National Convention earlier this month.
Asked who they planned to vote for in the November 2 presidential election, 52 percent of those most likely to vote named Bush, while 43 percent named Kerry. Among all registered voters, the poll said, Bush's lead was 50-44 percent.
The Washington Post said it was the first time this year in a Post-ABC poll that Bush got support of the majority of probable voters.
The daily attributed Bush's jump in the polls to an image boost from the Republican convention -- a day before it began on August 30 Bush and Kerry were tied at 48 percent.
The surge in voter support after the four-day convention was also noted by polls taken by Time magazine, which found Bush up 52-41 percent, Newsweek magazine (54-43 percent), by CNN/USA Today/Gallup (52-45 percent) and Fox News/Opinion Dynamics (47-45 percent).
The Post, however, cautioned that Kerry also enjoyed a four-point boost in his ratings after the Democratic National Convention in July, and that four years ago, Bush trailed then Democratic vice president Al Gore by 8-10 points in mid-September but went on to win the 2000 election.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll also found that priority issues shifted after the Republican convention with terrorism vying the economy for top place -- it was named by 25 percent of those surveyed, a six point increase, while the economy fell by four points to 27 percent.
Iraq remained unchanged with only 18 percent considering it the top issue.
The survey was conducted September 6-8 among 1,202 adults and had a three point margin of error.