President George W. Bush bounced back into a tie with Democratic challenger John Kerry one day before their final debate, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.
Bush gained three points on the Massachusetts senator to move into a 45-45 percent dead heat in the latest three-day tracking poll of the White House campaign.
The focus of the tight race now turns to Wednesday's pivotal final debate in Tempe, Arizona, with both candidates hoping to take advantage of their last chance to court a national television audience of likely voters. "A close race got closer," pollster John Zogby said. "I am not expecting anyone to pull away in this one - at least not yet."
Seven percent of likely voters are still undecided three weeks before the November 2 election. Only 35 percent of undecided voters give Bush a positive job rating, and 50 percent give him a negative rating. Newly registered voters lean toward Kerry by 49-42 percent, while those who have already voted give a slight edge to Bush by 48-43 percent.
The poll of 1,223 likely voters was taken Saturday through Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The rolling poll will continue through November 1 - the day before the election.