ASHINGTON - Governor George W. Bush of Texas maintains a commanding lead in the race for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, but voters do not believe he has the prize wrapped up, according to a Reuters-WHDH poll released yesterday.
The nationwide poll of 1,001 likely voters, conducted by Zogby International for Reuters and WHDH-TV in Boston, found Bush leading the Republican presidential field, with the backing of 60 percent of Republican voters.
Senator John McCain of Arizona held second place with 14 percent; publisher Steve Forbes was third with 6 percent; talk show host Alan Keyes and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah were tied at 2 percent; and conservative Gary Bauer had 1 percent.
The overall poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percent, and the Republican sample had a 5 percent margin of error. The poll was conducted Nov. 6-8.
In the last Reuters-WHDH national poll, conducted in September, support for Bush was also 60 percent. At that time, former Cabinet secretary Elizabeth Dole was second with 12 percent, and the rest of the field was below 5 percent. Dole dropped out of the race last month, saying she lacked the money to compete with Bush.
''The Republican contest is clearly turning into a two-man race, with McCain cementing himself as the only real challenger to Bush, although the Texan maintains a very strong position,'' said pollster John Zogby.
Still, Republican voters were not ready to declare the race over before a single vote was cast. Asked if Bush had the nomination wrapped up, 43 percent agreed and 49 percent disagreed.
When Republican voters were asked if they knew enough about Bush to nominate him, 44 percent said yes and 51 percent said no. Asked if Bush's money advantage made it impossible for anybody else to be nominated, 25 percent said yes, but 69 percent said no.
In head-to-head comparisons with both Democratic candidates, Bush led Vice President Al Gore by 50-39 percent and former senator Bill Bradley by 47-42 percent.
Bush has campaigned on a slogan of ''compassionate conservatism.'' Asked whether they considered him more of a conservative or more of a moderate, 32 percent of Republicans said he was a conservative but 48 percent saw him as a moderate.
The poll also showed the success of Bush's strategy of seeking support within the Hispanic community. Bush led Gore among Hispanic voters by 55-38 percent, although the sample was quite small. Bradley led Bush among Hispanics by 60-40 percent.
