Clark Tops Democrats, Ties Bush In Poll

Clark First Democrat to Beat Bush In Match-Up

Clark, who has yet to detail the agenda he will run on, bested Bush 49 to 46 percent in the poll, which is within the survey's margin of error. The poll was conducted Sept. 19-21, right after Clark launched his campaign in Little Rock.

A newcomer to politics, Clark was greeted with a week's worth of free national media exposure, which rival campaigns attributed for his dramatic rise in the polls

Kerry and Lieberman ran even with Bush in a head-to-head race, and Dean and Gephardt trailed the president by a few points. More broadly, the poll found Bush's popularity eroding.

His approval rating was 50 percent, the lowest of his presidency; 47 percent disapproved of job he is doing. More than half of respondents said they disagree with Bush on issues they care most about.

While polls offer only a snapshot of feelings at a given moment, this one reinforced a growing belief among Democrats that Bush is beatable, especially if the economy and the situation in Iraq do not improve in the months ahead.