Right now they divide about evenly between Bush and Gore, with more than a third still undecided. They're more apt to be moderate than the larger population, and less likely to be either liberal or conservative. For the candidates, the most difficult attribute of these changeable voters is that they tend to be less engaged politically, which makes it harder to win and hold their support. They're only about half as likely as other voters to be following the campaign very closely. And they're somewhat less likely to plan to watch the third and final debate Tuesday night.
Preferences also divide by age and income.
Younger voters, 18-30, support Gore by a 53 percent to 39 percent margin, but that's reversed among those over 60. The race is closer for the ages in between, with Bush having a slight edge. The race is close among middle-income voters, where Gore has focused much of his attention. The results are based on a random sample of 1,103 likely voters, estimating a 51 percent turnout. The issues questions are based on interviews with a subset of 946 registered voters.