Kerry Won Debate in CBS, CNN Polls; ABC News Find Tie (Correct)

(Corrects misspelled word in eighth paragraph of story published Oct. 13.)

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- John Kerry, the four-term senator from Massachusetts, won the third and final debate against President George W. Bush, polls by CBS and CNN found. An ABC News survey found the candidates in a statistical tie.

CBS said its poll of uncommitted voters found 39 percent said Kerry performed better, 25 percent picked Bush and 36 percent called the results a tie. CNN said Kerry won by 52 percent to 39 percent. The poll for CNN and USA Today by the Gallup Organization surveyed 511 registered voters and had a 5 percentage point margin for error.

In the ABC poll of 566 voters, 42 percent picked Kerry as the winner, 41 percent chose Bush and 14 percent said they tied, results within the error margin of 4.5 percentage points. The network said 38 percent of its respondents were Republican, 30 percent were Democrats and 28 percent were independent.

``Kerry connected better with undecided voters than Bush did on a few issues, for example, jobs,'' said Neil Berch, political science professor at West Virginia University. ``That was the point Bush just didn't get and it may come back to haunt him.''

Bush during the 90-minute debate accused Kerry of being ``out of the mainstream'' on taxes, spending and health care while Kerry said the president swelled the government's budget deficit for ``as far as the eye can see.''

The debate, at Arizona State University in Tempe, focused on domestic issues and was moderated by CBS News's Bob Schieffer.

The CNN poll found 42 percent of respondents said they had a more favorable opinion of Kerry after the debate, while 27 percent said they had a more favorable view of Bush.

20 Days to Go

Kerry's performance in the first two debates this year helped him erase an 8 percentage point lead Bush held last month. The two candidates are in a dead heat with 20 days to go until the Nov. 2 election, according to two polls released this week.

An Oct. 10-12 Reuters/Zogby poll of 1,232 likely voters found the candidates tied with 45 percent a piece. An ABC poll of 1,203 likely voters taken at the same time showed both had 48 percent. Both polls had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Rated Lower

Bush, 58, lost the first two debates, according to Gallup polls. The last incumbent to lose all the presidential debates was Bush's father, George H.W. Bush in 1992, who lost his re-election bid to Bill Clinton.

In 2000, Gallup polls found Bush was rated lower in two of the three debates he held with Democratic nominee Al Gore.

Kerry, 60, won the first debate on foreign policy by 57 percent to 25 percent, and won the second debate, a town-hall format, by 45 percent to 30 percent, according to Gallup polls.

Kerry was favored as better able to handle nine domestic issues, including the economy, health care and education, the Oct. 9-10 Gallup poll found. Bush was picked as better able to handle Iraq, the fight against terrorism and taxes.

The second debate, Oct. 8, was watched by about 46.7 million television viewers, a 25 percent drop from the first match-up on Sept. 30, according to Nielsen Media Research. A record 62.5 million people watched the first presidential debate on Sept. 30 at the University of Miami.

The Oct. 6 debate between Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic challenger John Edwards produced a split decision on the winner in instant polls by CBS News and ABC News. ABC found more debate viewers surveyed said Cheney did a better job, while CBS found more respondents picked Edwards.

Both campaigns aired commercials focusing on domestic issues in the days before tonight's debate.

Job Growth

The Bush campaign emphasized recent job growth numbers in a television advertisement they started airing Oct. 8 that credited the $1.85 trillion in tax cuts Bush signed into law since 2001 with helping produce 1.8 million new jobs since September 2003.

The Kerry campaign hit back with an advertisement criticizing Bush for presiding over the net loss of more than 800,000 jobs since taking office in January 2001. If the U.S. doesn't add 800,000 jobs by January, Bush would be the first president since Herbert Hoover to finish a four-year term with a net loss of jobs, according to Department of Labor figures.

In September, the economy added 96,000 jobs, fewer than forecast and less than the 148,000 payroll rise suggested by the median of 74 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.

The jobless rate was unchanged at 5.4 percent and manufacturing jobs fell for a third time this year.

Bush travels tomorrow to rallies in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, and Central Point, Oregon. Kerry travels to Las Vegas and Des Moines, Iowa.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Newton-Small in Washington at jnewtonsmall@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 14, 2004 00:58 EDT