Iowans split on Bush, Kerry traits

[papau]

A new Iowa poll examining personal traits people look for in a president finds that while the vote in this swing state is going to be close, the president holds a lead in many respects

http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040729/NEWS09/407290417/1001


Poll: Iowans split on Bush, Kerry traits

The president gets the edge in most respects. He's seen as a strong leader; the senator is seen as less rigid.

By JONATHAN ROOS

Norma Pietsch, an Ames homemaker, admires President Bush for sticking to his convictions. Helen Kirkland, a retired shoe store owner from Algona, says the Republican incumbent is stubborn.
Bob Jones, a Callender resident getting ready for his first year at Iowa State University, likes Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry because he can change with the times. John Hicks of Marion, finance manager of a church, complains that Kerry is easily led by liberal groups.

The four Iowans' clashing opinions about Bush and Kerry are reflected in a new Des Moines Register poll that examines personal traits people often look for in a president.

Bush, despite subpar job approval marks, is seen by substantially more likely voters than is Kerry as a strong leader who sticks to his convictions and says what he believes, the Iowa Poll shows.

Among Iowans who say they definitely will vote in the November election, 55 percent give the nod to Bush as a strong leader, while 34 percent associate that trait with Kerry instead. The poll, taken July 17-21, has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

Bush also holds a substantial advantage over Kerry as someone who sticks to his convictions (60 percent to 30 percent) and who says what he believes (54 percent to 37 percent).

Kerry, who will accept his party's nomination tonight at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, is viewed by many more likely voters than is Bush as a candidate who is flexible, not stubborn, in his thinking. The poll shows 51 percent regard Kerry that way, compared with 33 percent for Bush. <snip>

[IA_Seth]

1. My 2 Cents

I am pretty involved in my neck of the woods and it seems like a lot of the younger and newer voters that I have spoken with haven't been polled...by contrast, here at work a lot of the Republicans I work with have.

I haven't been polled either. A thought I had about polling is that a lot of younger people I know are using their cell phones for their only phone line these days (I am one of them). A lot of times those numbers weren't listed on their registration info and isn't in any phone books..

I don't know, I am sure my view is VERY biased when it comes to these sorts of things, but it seems to me that there is SO much new blood in the Democratic Party that Iowa should be cleanly Kerry.