"I was for Bush," she said outside a noisy mall arcade. "Now I'm not."

White women like Hanzel may be the most changeable voting bloc in American politics, loyal to no political party and slow to commit to a candidate. Many of them switched from George W. Bush to Gore after the Democratic convention in August, boosting the vice president into a dead heat with his GOP rival.

Gore, who trailed or was even with Bush among female voters this summer, suddenly holds a double-digit lead among them in most polls. One survey shows him up by 18 percentage points.

The shift shows how volatile this year's electorate can be. It also reflects how Gore has seized an advantage on questions about character.

Hanzel and other women here said Gore recently appeared more likable, more capable and more distant from Bill Clinton.

"Four months ago, there wasn't much out there on Gore. I didn't know much about him," said Hanzel, a mother of six and grandmother to Alyssa -- a sleepy-eyed 3-year-old squirming in her stroller. "But now he looks like his own man. He's more real, friendlier-looking. Not just a crony of President Clinton."

She was shopping in Parmatown Mall in this working-class Cleveland suburb. Interviews at the same shopping center four months ago found swing voters, particularly women, leaning toward Bush because they were looking for a change in Washington after the impeachment scandal.

Gore seemed untrustworthy and remote at the time, a lackey to a president who had let them down. Though benefiting from the economy, women here were not giving Gore credit.

A return visit this week found female voters rethinking their opinions of both candidates, reflecting a change in the electorate overall.

"It's easier for me to separate him from Monica Lewinsky now that he's on his own," said Betty Myrick of Cleveland. "I no longer feel it's right to give him a bad rap because of the president he served with."

An ABC-Washington Post poll showed that, among all voters, Gore has erased Bush's advantage as the candidate best able to encourage high moral standards and values.

"These married white women who pulled back from Clinton during the controversy of the last couple of years are finding themselves more comfortable with the vice president," said Gore pollster Stan Greenberg.

But doubts linger among mothers, a sign that Gore gains could be lost if memories of scandal are rekindled.

"I still can't disconnect Gore from the Clinton administration," said Nancy Madej, mother of three from Seven Hills.

Gore's newfound lead with women is about the size of Clinton's advantage over Bob Dole in 1996. Democrats are aided by lopsided support from black women and a traditional edge among single, white women.

Bush has led -- and still leads, Democrats acknowledge -- among married women, though Gore has narrowed the gap.

Thus, for all his efforts, Gore has simply rebuilt a portion of Clinton's winning coalition -- and still has work to do among male voters.

The ABC-Washington Post poll showed Gore up by 18 points among women, Bush up by 20 points among men. That 38-point gender gap is three times the average.

"Women voters swung so wildly once, they can swing again," GOP pollster Whit Ayres of Atlanta said.

Women's reasons for swinging toward Gore vary, and reflect trends among voters overall.

"I'm coming around to thinking that maybe he's the best guy to watch over" the economy, said Charlene Learn, 29, of Medina.

Before the convention, Bush was considered the best candidate to manage the budget and the economy. Gore now holds the edge overall.

Irene Mudrak, 75, of Broadview Heights, said she is leaning toward Gore after favoring Bush for months. "I think Gore has come off as more believable," she said. "Just in the last couple of days, I've noticed Bush start haranguing about Gore and running negative ads."

The ABC-Post poll showed Bush and Gore considered equally "honest and trustworthy" among all voters. Gore gained 16 points in the category since mid-July, even as Bush made the Democrat's trustworthiness the focus of a multimillion dollar ad campaign.

Bush "looks like he's grabbing at straws and going negative, not talking about issues," said Donna Whitelock, 64, a Parma retiree who was shopping with her daughter.

Gore is leading on health care, the economy, education and Social Security, though Bush is still doing well on traditional GOP issues, holding down taxes and handling national defense.

Fewer voters are calling Gore "boring." A majority now find him "interesting."

Wiping a blonde curl from her forehead, Hanzel said she wants the next president to set a better example for Alyssa. After watching the Democratic convention and Gore's high-profile smooch with wife Tipper, Hanzel said she began leaning toward the vice president.

"I saw that kiss," she said. "You can't fake that."

EDITOR'S NOTE -- Poll writer Will Lester contributed to this story from Washington.