He went into the week with a lead of 8 percentage points over Gore, and came out of it with an advantage of 19 percentage points. However, Republican congressional candidates apparently lost ground during the week of the poll. They were tied with Democrats at the beginning of the week, and finished down three. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points. The poll was conducted by Democrat Celinda Lake and Republican Ed Goeas.
Republicans meeting here say they got what they had hoped for.
I want America to see him as a leader, someone with charisma, determination and energy, otherwise everything else is moot. The Democrats derided the GOP's convention imagery as a triumph of smoke and mirrors that mask a party out of touch with average Americans. Many who trooped to the podium were African Americans, a group that has eschewed GOP presidential candidates since Dwight Eisenhower in the '50s. Gore and the Democrats now will stake their claim to some of the same themes during their convention. They will argue that while Bush comes with a smiling face, it is a face that masks inexperience, that Gore is in every way a more seasoned leader whose efforts to help working people is real and well-documented.