WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (AFP) - Fresh polls Friday showed Democrat John Kerry chipping away at President George W. Bush's lead in their race for the White House but gave mixed signals on the impact of the dominating issue, Iraq.
A Time Magazine survey gave Bush a a 48-42 percent edge over the Massachusetts senator among likely voters, with independent Ralph Nader pulling five percent. The Republican incumbent led by 11 percent two weeks ago.
A CBS News poll gave Bush a 49-41 percent lead among registered voters, down a point from last week. The Rassmussen poll had Kerry closing the deficit from four points to less than one in two days and Fox News had Bush up by four points.
Time said its poll, conducted over three days after Kerry delivered his most cogent attack on Bush's Iraq policies Monday, pointed to a credibility gap problem for the president ahead of the November 2 election.
Only 37 percent of registered voters considered the president "truthful in describing the situation" in Iraq while 55 percent agreed that the "situation is worse than Bush has reported."
The Time poll showed Bush's edge over Kerry as the candidate "most likely to bring a more successful end to the situation in Iraq" narrowing to 46-42 percent but other surveys painted a different picture.
Sixty-one percent of those polled by CBS had a lot or some confidence in the president to make the right decisions about Iraq, up five points from last month. Kerry's numbers were down from 63 to 51 percent.
The Fox News survey showed Bush trusted more on Iraq by 48 to 37 percent, with 43 percent saying the president had a clear plan for dealing with the crisis and 34 percent feeling the same about Kerry.
If the Time poll reported the number agreeing with the US decision to invade the country as dropping five points from early September to 48 percent, Fox had support for the operation rising to 63 percent.
The polls showed Bush keeping a hefty lead over Kerry on combating terrorism while staying competitive on the economy. But the president suffered slippage on some other fronts.
CBS News had his job approval rating dipping to 48 percent while Fox put it at 50 percent, still historically dangerous for presidents seeking a second term. Time said only 47 percent thought Bush should be re-elected.
One intriguing finding by CBS was that Kerry, who has been hurt by Republican attacks on his Vietnam war record and command capabilities, was seen by voters a bigger mudslinger than Bush.
Twenty-seven percent felt only Kerry was responsible for unfair allegations, while 19 percent blamed only Bush. Sixty-one percent thought the Democrat was spending most of his time in attack mode; 44 percent felt Bush was.
The polls showed the series of three televied debates, which kicks off next Thursday in Florida, could be crucial in deciding the outcome of a tight race.
CBS News said that 27 percent of Americans believed the face-offs could influence their votes, while 70 percent said the encounters would not change their minds.
The Time survey suggested the debates might have a particular effect on 19 percent of the electorate who are undecided or susceptible to changing their minds. Seven in 10 said the televised sessions could be determinant in their choice.