A Gallup Poll survey released Friday puts US President George W. Bush ahead of his Democratic rival John Kerry by 13 points, in stark contrast with two other polls which had both in a tie.
The Gallup survey taken between September 13 and 15 puts Bush ahead of Kerry by 55-42 percent among likely voters, a difference the group said was a "significant improvement" from the modest 50-47 percent lead Bush had just before the Republican National Convention, held from August 30 to September 2.
The results were in stark contrast with two polls released Thursday, which put the president and the Massachusetts senator in a statistical dead heat.
Less than seven weeks from the November 2 vote, a Harris Interactive poll for The Wall Street Journal gave Kerry a 48 to 47 percent lead over Bush, while a poll by the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press showed them tied at 46 percent.
The Harris survey conducted September 9-13 poll among 1,018 adults has a three-percentage-point margin of error, while Pew interviewed 1,972 registered voters between September 8-10. Gallup found that among registered voters, Bush's lead over Kerry was smaller, 52 to 44 percent. Before the convention, Kerry was ahead of Bush by one point, 48-47.