Vice President Al Gore would lose to GOP front-runners Texas Gov. George W. Bush or Elizabeth Dole if the election were held today, a new survey shows.
“Not only is [Gore] below 50 percent in his own party, he trails both Republican front-runners, which speaks to some weakness on his part,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.
The poll shows Dole catching up to the favorite, Bush.
“If she decides to go the whole route, she’s a force to be reckoned with,” Miringoff said.
Marist pollsters asked 700 registered voters whom they would vote for if their party’s primary were held today.
Among Republicans, the results were: 37 percent for Bush, son of the former president, and 27 percent for Dole, wife of former senator and presidential hopeful Bob Dole.
No other GOPers came close: ex-Veep Dan Quayle and former presidential hopefuls Jack Kemp and Steve Forbes were below 10 percent. Mayor Giuliani and Gov. Pataki got just 1 percent.
Bush, elected to a second term as Texas governor in a landslide last year, has gained a few points in the past three months – but Dole’s gains have been tremendous since she left the Red Cross to consider a run.
“Since October, Elizabeth Dole has doubled her support within the Republican group and has now catapulted into second place, a very enviable position to be in,” Miringoff said.
On the other side of the political divide, things were looking less rosy for Gore, who managed only 44 percent of the support among Dems.
Former Sen. Bill Bradley was a distant second with 16 percent, trailed by Jesse Jackson with 11 percent – and 16 percent were undecided.
House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt, of Missouri, is slated to announce today, as expected, that he won’t run for president in 2000, leaving Bradley as Gore’s chief challenger.
Gore’s appeal in the general election was tested against the two GOP front-runners, and he lost in both hypothetical matchups.
The survey shows Bush would get 53 percent to Gore’s 42 percent if the election were held today. Elizabeth Dole would get 50 percent to Gore’s 44 percent.
“At a time when Democrats are riding high nationally because of the Republican problems putting the impeachment matter to rest, you’ve got a guy like Gore trailing and that’s not good news for him,” Miringoff said.
The survey was conducted Jan. 25 and 26. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.