President George W. Bush holds a double-digit lead over Democratic challenger John Kerry among likely voters in the US presidential election, according to a poll by Time magazine released on Saturday.
Fifty-two percent of the 857 likely voters surveyed between September 7 and September 9 said they would vote for Bush if the election were held now while 41 percent said they would opt for Kerry.
Three percent said they would cast their ballots for Ralph Nader, an independent candidate in the November 2 presidential race.
The results were identical to those of a Time poll conducted during the Republican convention, which was held in New York from August 30 to September 2. The latest poll had a margin of error of plus-or-minus four percentage points, Time said.
Time said Kerry had shown "surprising" signs of slippage among female voters. It said women were now evenly split between Bush (45 percent) and Kerry (44 percent). Men heavily favoured Bush with 56 percent saying they would vote for the president compared to 34 percent for Kerry.
In early August, 50 percent of women said they would vote for Kerry and just 36 percent for Bush, Time said.
Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said terrorism was the most important issue at stake, up eight points from early August. The economy was next at 24 percent. On handling of the economy, Bush led Kerry by 50 percent to 44 percent, a reversal of a month ago when Kerry led 51-42.
Bush had opened up a huge lead over Kerry in handling of the war on terrorism, Time said, enjoying a 58 percent to 35 percent advantage, up from eight points in early August.
On the handling of the situation in Iraq, Bush led Kerry by 57 percent to 37 percent, up from just two points in early August. As commander-in-chief of the US military, 57 percent trusted Bush while 37 percent chose Kerry.
Bush's job rating also surged with a 56 percent of those surveyed saying they approved of his performance and 41 percent registering disapproval. That was up from a month ago when he was at just 50 percent approval.
A majority (52 percent) said Bush deserves reelection with 45 percent disagreeing.