Big bash gives no bounce to Kerry

From combined dispatches

The Democratic presidential ticket did not profit from last week’s Boston convention and even slipped behind President Bush among likely voters, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of likely voters showed yesterday.

The poll, taken on Friday and Saturday, showed Mr. Bush garnering 50 percent, compared with 47 percent for Democratic nominee John Kerry. Mr. Bush trailed the Massachusetts senator among likely voters earlier in July, 49 percent to 47 percent.

Among registered voters, Mr. Kerry received 50 percent to 47 percent for Mr. Bush, hardly an improvement over the 49 percent to 45 percent lead that Mr. Kerry had among registered voters earlier in the month.

The poll had a four-percentage-point margin of error.

A Newsweek poll released Saturday said Mr. Kerry had gained a four-point boost in the polls after the Democratic National Convention.

Mr. Kerry had been hoping that the convention would provide a measurable surge in public approval, or “bounce,” which sometimes has given nominees a double-digit boost in the polls after their four days in the spotlight.

Democrats this year have said the narrowly divided electorate and relatively small number of undecided voters made a big bounce unlikely.

Mr. Kerry said he wasn’t paying attention.

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday” with his running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, he said he remembered last year, when polls showed his presidential bid staggering.

“Polls are not what’s important. What’s important is what we’re going to do for America,” Mr. Kerry said.

“I don’t read polls. I really don’t. They are going to go up and down. They’re going to change,” he added.

Mr. Kerry was on the campaign trail yesterday, talking more openly about his personal connection to God and guns, seeking support from conservative-leaning independent voters.

As his post-convention bus tour rolls through blue-collar and Republican-leaning districts, Mr. Kerry repeatedly has described how he began a lifetime of hunting and fishing as a young boy. And lately he’s been speaking in more detail about a faith that he and Mr. Edwards share in God.

“We’re running to be lay leaders, but there isn’t any way that you’re not affected by your fundamental values, the faith that brings you to the table,” Mr. Kerry said yesterday at Greater Grace Temple in Springfield, Ohio.

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