Bush extends his lead in polls

WASHINGTON – President Bush has been solidifying his gains in states that once were dead heats, forcing both parties’ campaigns to alter strategies as the electoral battleground shrinks. Democrat John Kerry is struggling to stay afloat in some hotly contested states, including Missouri, Wisconsin and Ohio, where polls show Bush pulling ahead.

Ohio, with 20 electoral votes, went for Bush in 2000, but economic issues this year should be helping Kerry, Democrats suggest. Unemployment in Ohio stands at 5.9 percent, above the national average of 5.4 percent.

“The big problem that Senator Kerry has right now is that he has not communicated to the people of Ohio exactly what his plans are,” said Paul Tipps, a Columbus lobbyist and former state Democratic party chairman. “This state is very much John Kerry’s to win. But he hasn’t done it yet.”

Bush campaigned in Colorado on Tuesday as part of his plan to put that state, Missouri, Arizona, North Carolina, Arkansas and Louisiana out of contention.

Reflecting the changing dynamic, Bush’s campaign this week increased its advertising in four states won in 2000 by Democrat Al Gore: Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Michigan. Meanwhile, it was cutting back on ads in states that appear to be moving out of play: Arizona and Missouri, which are moving Bush’s way, and Maine and Washington, which slightly favor Kerry.

With the election less than two months away, both parties are focusing most of their attention and advertising dollars on 10 closely contested states: Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia and New Hampshire.

Post-GOP convention polls show the race to be a dead heat in Pennsylvania, with 21 electoral votes, a state carried by Gore in 2000. The race in Florida, which decided the 2000 contest when it was put in Bush’s column by a Supreme Court ruling, was even in polls just before the convention.

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