Democrats continue to dominate polls in US

NEW YORK: Democrats continue to dominate national polling two days before the US Congressional elections with Iraq still on top of the voters' mind, according to a new survey.

The latest poll by Newsweek released yesterday said 54 per cent of likely voters would support the Democrats, compared to just 38 per cent who said they would vote for the Republicans -- a lead of 16 points.

Despite round-the-clock coverage of Senator John Kerry's botched joke and the President George W Bush trying to portray Democrats as "weak-on-terror tax lovers", nearly a third of respondents (32 per cent) considered the war in Iraq the topmost issue, said the poll.

Kerry had joked that Americans who neglect their studies would "get stuck in Iraq".
 
The economy came in second on the priority list of voters, with 19 per cent saying it is the most important issue, while terrorism came in only at third (12 per cent).

Meanwhile, the President's approval rating continues to slide with a mere 35 per cent giving him a thumbs-up, a two-point fall from 37 per cent last week.

The only good news for the Grand Old Party is that its base remains almost intact, with 90 per cent of likely Republican voters saying they would vote for their party candidate, not far behind the 95 per cent of Democrats who said they would vote for their party's nominee.