About 30 Percent Of Voters Are Undecided

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 8) -- Some 30 percent of registered voters don't know who they would vote for between Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) or President Bill Clinton if the election were held today, according to a new CNN/TIME poll.

Though the race is likely to tighten between now and November, the survey of 2,432 registered voters favored Clinton over Dole 55 percent to 41 percent. That's a jump in support for Clinton of seven points from a November, 1995 survey that showed Clinton defeating Dole 48 percent to 42 percent. The margin for error was +/- 2 percent.

A separate CBS News-New York Times poll told a different story. It found Clinton would beat Dole 49 percent to 39 percent, with the Kansas Senator gaining ground from a survey conducted last month when he trailed the president 53 to 36 percent.

Vacationing in Florida, Dole joked to reporters, "The New York Times never makes a mistake." Dole's personal favorability was at 52 percent, his unfavorability 44 percent.

Apparently the GOP is a drag on Dole; support for the Republican party was down sharply from 54 percent last August to 41 percent, with 50 percent having an unfavorable view, according to the CBS-Times poll. Support for the Democratic Party remained even at 46 percent favorable, 45 percent unfavorable. In August, 47 percent gave the party a favorable rating while 45 percent said unfavorable.

In the CNN/TIME poll, support for Texas billionaire Ross Perot took a dive to 15 percent, down from 20 percent in November 1995. The CBS-Times survey indicated Perot would draw about 18 percent of the vote. The CBS-Times survey of 1,257 registered voters had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

It's Education, Stupid The foremost concern of voters was the state of American education, according to the CNN/TIME survey, with 51 percent saying reform should be a top priority for the next president. Combatting crime was listed as a top priority of 49 percent, and reducing the deficit was listed as a top priority of 47 percent.

Protecting Medicare was the fourth highest concern at 46 percent. The economy and reforming welfare followed at 45 percent and 44 percent, respectively. The group who listed the economy as their number one priority has grown to 15 percent from 8 percent last November.

Reforming how the government operates was a top priority for 38 percent, improving the nation's moral standing was cited by 34 percent, while cutting taxes was mentioned by 33 percent.

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