Lieberman, Gephardt, Dean top national poll, but few voters paying attention
Most voters haven't started paying attention to the Democratic presidential race, says a poll released on Labor Day weekend -- the campaign's traditional starting point.
Two-thirds of voters -- including two-thirds of Democrats -- were unable to name any of the Democratic candidates for president, said the CBS News poll out Sunday.
Joe Lieberman, Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean topped the field in the poll, with relatively low numbers that suggest the race remains wide open.
Lieberman, Gephardt and Dean were the only three in double digits in support from registered Democrats. Lieberman, a Connecticut senator, had the backing of 14 percent; Gephardt, a Missouri congressman, was backed by 11 percent; and Dean, former governor of Vermont was at 10 percent. Other candidates were in single digits.
John Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, was at 5 percent after being in double digits in national polls most of the year. Kerry will try to spark his campaign this week with the formal announcement of his candidacy.
Al Sharpton had 5 percent; Bob Graham, a senator from Florida was at 4 percent; John Edwards, a senator from North Carolina, had 2 percent; Carol Moseley Braun was at 2 percent; and Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, had 0 percent.
Four in 10 Democratic voters said they were satisfied with the current field of nine candidates, while half said they would like more choices.
When all voters were asked whether President Bush will definitely be re-elected, 38 percent said yes, but 50 percent said they think a Democrat can win. When voters were asked the same question about Bush's father in October 1991, 66 percent said yes, but that number dropped 20 points in the next month. The first President Bush lost his re-election bid.
The poll of 775 registered voters was taken Aug. 26-28 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, larger for subgroups like Democratic voters.