Bush Seen Gaining in Polls As November Election Nears

PRESIDENT Bush trailed Bill Clinton by 20 percentage points in an ABC News poll released Aug. 17 that showed the president narrowing the gap with his Democratic rival.

Mr. Clinton led Mr. Bush 57 percent to 37 percent in the Aug. 12-16 survey, compared with a 61-35 gap in an ABC survey taken over the previous five days.

Clinton saw a huge rise in public support after his nomination last month at the Democratic National Convention in New York. The ABC News poll found that support held steady until last week, when the Republicans began final preparations for their own convention in Houston.

Clinton lost support among Republicans who flirted with the other party but then returned to the GOP, the poll found. His support among Republicans dropped in a week by nine points to 17 percent.

Supporters of former candidate Ross Perot also fell away from the Clinton camp; his support among those voters declined by six points to 56 percent.

The poll of 615 likely voters also found that nearly nine out of 10 voters said abortion wouldn't be the deciding issue in deciding for whom to vote. The poll was accurate to within 4.5 percentage points.