Bush, Gore in neck-and-neck race for White House

The race now finds Bush with 44 per cent of the vote and Gore with 43 per cent.

Since the daily tracking poll began on September 29, the race has never been outside the survey8217;s statistical margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Bush opened up a 3-point lead on Saturday, following his success in the second debate against Gore last week, but that has closed up.

The contest is shaping up to be the closest race for the presidency since 1960, when John F Kennedy edged out Richard Nixon.

The high-stakes town meeting style debate Tuesday night at Washington University in St. Louis will be Gore8217;s and Bush8217;s last chance to make a case for their candidacies before a televised nationwide audience.

The tracking surveys are made up of a rolling daily sample of about 400 likely voters each day to create a three-day sample of about 1,200.

In the latest poll released Monday, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader garnered 6 per cent, up one point from the previous day. Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan held at 1 per cent as did Libertarian Party candidate Harry Browne.

Seventeen per cent of the respondents, however, said they are very likely or somewhat likely to change their minds before election day.

The poll showed that both Gore and Bush now have nearly identical favourable and unfavourable ratings with Gore posting 59 per cent favourable and 38 per cent unfavourable while Bush posted 59 per cent favourable and 39 per cent unfavourable.

Thirty-nine per cent of the voters have definitely ruled out voting for Gore, while 38 per cent have definitely ruled out voting for Bush, the survey found.

Gore maintained a wide lead in the East but he has tightened the race in the South and the West, where Bush had been ahead but the two candidates are now tied.

But Bush has taken the lead in the Mid-West 8212; 47 per cent to 39 per cent 8212; where many experts believe the race will be decided.

BUSH LEADS AMONG MEN, WHITES

Bush continued to hold his lead among men and Gore still leads among women, although the Texan has eaten into that Gore margin with women somewhat.

Gore has taken the lead among the 25,000-50,000 income bracket, which every victorious candidate for the presidency has won since 1972.

Bush continued to pull more strongly within his own party than Gore pulled among Democrats. The two candidates are now tied among independent voters.

Bush was winning the white vote 49-36 per cent but Gore has expanded his lead among Hispanics 58 per cent to 32 per cent and continued to have a massive advantage among African-Americans.

In the tight battle for control of the U S House of Representatives, where Democrats need to pick up a handful of seats to regain the majority, the Republicans have again picked up support and garnered 41 per cent of the vote versus 39 per cent for the Democrats.

Reuters and MSNBC will release a new poll every day until the election.