New poll confirms tight US race

Former US President Bill Clinton (L) gives a speech as he campaigns for US Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (R) at a rally Monday at Love Field in Philadalphia. PHOTO: AFP

The Gallup poll for CNN/USA Today said 51 percent of likely voters would back Bush and 46 percent Kerry. But with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points it said the race leader was "unclear".

Of the 1,461 registered voters polled, 49 percent supported Bush and 47 percent Kerry. Of those, 1,195 were identified as likely voters.

CNN said that Bush's support had fallen a single percentage point and Kerry's had risen by one or two but because of the sampling error "it's unclear whether the race has changed at all."

In the previous survey, 52 percent of likely voters said they would back Bush and 44 percent the Democratic senator from Massachusetts.