ASHINGTON - Americans are paying so little attention to the early skirmishing of the 2000 campaign that half could not name a Democratic candidate for president, according to a poll released yesterday.
The finding by the Pew Research Center suggests that Vice President Al Gore has failed to penetrate the radar screen of a huge mass of potential voters. By contrast, 37 percent of those questioned failed to name a Republican presidential candidate. The blank looks came after respondents were asked a question about Gore and George W. Bush.
Separately, Gore's once-hefty lead over Bill Bradley among New York Democrats now stands at a statistical tie, 42 percent to 40 percent, according to a statewide poll released yesterday by the Quinnipiac College Polling Institute. The poll has a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
''With the [New York] primary just six months away, Vice President Gore better get his incredible shrinking candidacy in gear and stop the Bradley fast break,'' said Maurice Carroll, director of the institute.
The vice president led Bradley 52 percent to 34 percent in July, and 47 percent to 38 percent in August, according to institute polls.
In the Pew poll, the center's director, Andew Kohut, explained that ''people are more disengaged now than in the past because we've had an extra year of the horse race. Impeachment and the Lewinsky scandal was about Washington politics and who's going to stay in power. So it's doubly difficult to get people to pay attention to the race.''
On the who's-running question, 54 percent identified Texas Governor Bush as a White House contender, 46 percent recalled Gore, and 16 percent named GOP rival Elizabeth Dole or Bill Bradley.
The Pew survey has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
