Poll shows independents lean against re-election of president

Independent voters are leaning against the re-election of President Bush amid doubts about his handling of the economy and Iraq, a poll released Saturday indicates.

A majority of independents, 53 percent, said they oppose Bush's re-election, while 40 percent favor it, according to the Newsweek poll. Republicans favor his re-election by an 86-10 margin, while Democrats oppose it by the same amount.

Overall, his re-election was favored by 44 percent of respondents and opposed by 50 percent.

Bush's overall job approval in the poll was 52 percent. People were closely divided on his handling of the economy, with 44 percent approving and 48 percent disapproving. Just over half, 51 percent, disapprove of his handling of Iraq, while 42 percent approve.

Bush still gets solid support for his handling of the fight against terrorism, with 64 percent approving.

Howard Dean led the Democratic candidates among Democrats and those who lean Democratic. Dean had 16 percent, followed by Wesley Clark with 15 percent; all others were in the single digits.

Top Democratic candidates matched up closely with Bush, with the president ahead by anywhere from 3 percentage points to 5 points.

People were evenly divided on whether Bush or a Democratic president would handle the economy better.

The poll of 1,002 adults was taken Nov. 6-7 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, slightly larger for subgroups.