WASHINGTON, Oct 10: A flurry of polls out on Tuesday, four weeks before election day, showed Democrats with a commanding lead in the race to regain control of the US Congress.
Democrats have opened their biggest lead over Republicans in 20 years this close to an election, amid public discontent with the Iraq war and President George W. Bush's handling of it, an ABC News/Washington Post found.
The scandal over a Florida lawmaker's sexually explicit messages to teenage Congressional aides has also taken its toll: 75 per cent of those polled by CNN said Republicans had mishandled the matter.
"A Capitol Hill sex scandal has reinforced public doubts about Republican leadership and pushed Democrats to a huge lead," USA Today concurred in coverage of its own USA Today/Gallup poll.
And Republicans have lost their edge on national security, a New York Times/CBS News poll showed. Asked which party "was more likely to make the right decisions when it comes to dealing with terrorism," 41 per cent said Republicans, and 40 per cent named Democrats.
All four polls gave Democrats a lead, ranging from 13 to 23 points, when voters were asked whether they planned to pick a Republican or a Democrat for Congress on Nov 7.
US voters are set to elect 33 of 100 senators, all 435 members of the lower House of Representatives and 36 of 50 state governors when they go to the polls on Nov 7.
Democrats must win at least six seats to win control of the Senate, and at least 15 seats to gain control of the House.
The polls do not indicate how many districts the Democrats would win, but they are a gauge of the national political mood.
Also, they do not account for potential voter reaction to North Korea's nuclear test, because they were taken in the days just before.
Each poll asked voters if they were more likely to vote for a Democrat or a Republican to represent them in Congress. In answer to that question: - A USA Today/Gallup poll gave Democrats a 23 point lead (59 to 36 per cent). The poll surveyed 1,007 adults from October 6-9.
- A CNN poll gave Democrats a 21 point lead (58 to 37 per cent). That poll included 1,028 adults from Oct 5-8.
- A CBS News/New York Times poll showed Democrats ahead by 14 points (49 to 35 per cent). It questioned 983 adults from October 5-8.
- An ABC News/Washington Post poll gave Democrats a 13 point lead (54 to 41 per cent). It questioned 1,204 adults from October 5-8. The 23-point lead in the USA Today/Gallup poll was "double the lead Republicans had a month before they seized control of Congress in 1994," the newspaper said.—AFP
