Newsweek poll shows Gore leading Bradley in New Hampshire

By Associated Press, 1/15/2000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Al Gore leads Sen. Bill Bradley among people who say they plan to vote in New Hampshire's Democratic primary, says a Newsweek poll released Saturday.

In polling Wednesday through Friday, the newsmagazine said 50 percent of people who plan to vote in the Feb. 1 primary favored Gore to 36 percent Bradley. The other 14 percent were undecided.

Newsweek said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., moved in the Republican campaign from a statistical dead heat to a slight lead over the national front-runner, Gov. George W. Bush of Texas. The poll showed McCain with 42 percent to Bush's 34 percent backing among people who plan to vote in the primary. Steve Forbes was the only other GOP candidate in double figures, with 11 percent.

Interviewers talked Jan. 12-14 with 848 registered voters who said they planned to vote in New Hampshire. The margin of error was 7 percent for Democrats and 6 percent for Republicans.

The Democratic result showed a significant change from the last Newsweek poll, in early December. It showed Bradley, a former U.S. senator from New Jersey, leading Gore 47 percent to 40 percent, with 13 percent undecided. With a 6 percentage point margin of error, that gave Bradley a slight lead.

Recent polls by other organizations also have shown Bradley leading Gore, or in a dead heat.

Gore led Bradley by 10 percentage points, 46 percent to 36 percent, in the early November Newsweek poll.