ASHINGTON - New polls gave further evidence of a tight presidential race this fall, as George W. Bush and Al Gore prepared for another round of campaigning this week.
A Newsweek poll released yesterday showed Gore leading Bush 47 percent to 39 percent among registered voters and 49 to 41 percent among likely voters, while a CNN/USA Today survey found the candidates virtually tied. In new state polls, Bush held sizable leads in Kentucky and Indiana and was locked in tight races in the key states of Ohio and Illinois.
The Newsweek poll, with a 4-percentage point margin for registered voters and 5 points for likely voters, had shown Gore leading Bush by 10 points a week earlier.
The CNN/USA Today poll showed Gore leading Bush 46 percent to 43 percent among registered voters, while Bush led 46 percent to 45 percent among likely voters. The results were within the margin of error of 3 percentage points for the registered voters survey and 4 percentage points for likely voters.
In Illinois, a Chicago Sun-Times/Fox News Chicago poll of 600 voters showed Gore leading Bush 44 percent to 40 percent, well within the margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.
Polls for WCPO-TV by Survey/USA of 500 likely voters per state had Bush leading Democrat Gore 52 percent to 38 percent in Indiana, 51 percent to 42 percent in Kentucky, and 48 percent to 44 percent in Ohio.
Bush's 4 percent lead in Ohio was within the 4.5-point margin of error.
The governor of Texas has widened his margin over the vice president in Ohio since a poll was conducted by Survey/USA soon after the Democratic National Convention last month, which had Bush ahead 47 percent to 45 percent.
In Kentucky, Gore had reduced Bush's margin from 15 percent to 9 percent since a Survey/USA poll released two weeks ago.
Indiana has been conceded to Bush by most political strategists. Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky are regarded as up for grabs in the Electoral College tallies.
This week, Gore and his running mate, Joseph I. Lieberman, will cross Ohio in yellow school buses, pushing a back-to-school theme. Gore also has education-related events in Portland, Maine, and has lined up appearances on Oprah Winfrey's and David Letterman's talk shows.
Bush this week will take his new strategy, focusing more on policy details and what his campaign calls ''real people,'' to Florida, California, and Washington state.
The two campaigns also are expected to begin negotiations on a schedule for debates.
On Friday, the Bush camapign said the governor had directed his campaign manager, Don Evans, to meet with the Commission on Presidential Debates ''anywhere, anytime'' to work out with Gore's representative a ''mutually agreeable plan so there will be debates.''
The commission, which has organized the debates since 1988, said yesterday it was trying to set a date this week for talks between the Gore and Bush camps.
Gore spokesman Chris Lehane expressed optimism that Bush would agree to the three debates proposed by the commission, including one at the University of Massachusetts in Boston on Oct. 3.
However, Bush probably will accept two and negotiate a different format for a third.
