WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (AFP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is starting to make inroads among swing voters as the White House race winds down to its final days, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The poll by the Pew Research Center said Kerry had made "more substantial gains" than President George W. Bush among a sample of 519 swing voters who were first interviewed in September.
A follow-up survey conducted last Thursday to Monday found that 52 percent had firmed up their preference since September while 48 percent were still uncertain how they would vote in Tuesday's election.
Forty percent of those interviewed said they were backing or leaning to Kerry, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts, up from 28 percent in the September poll. Bush's support grew by only four points to 38 percent.
The main reason cited was Kerry's strong performance in the three televised debates against Bush, Pew said. By a 44-13 percent margin, respondents said that the Democrat came off better.
Swing voters are defined as those who are undecided or who could change their vote. Among those who had made up their mind in the Pew survey, 56 percent had a favorable view of Kerry and 47 percent looked kindly on Bush.
Three in 10 of the remaining swing voters saw the economy as the most important issue but terrorism also figured more prominently for them than for committed Kerry backers, Pew said.
Forty-six percent of those who were still uncertain of their vote said it was the right decision to invade Iraq last year, while 36 percent said it was wrong. Among those who jumped off the fence, 51 percent thought the Iraq war was wrong.
10/27/2004 20:35 GMT - AFP