Beaners Pro Dean and Queen

Latest Massachusetts Poll Shows Kerry Losing to Dean in his home state

The poll shows Dean getting 27 percent of the 400 likely Democratic primary voters, with Kerry receiving 24 percent. The two are far ahead of seven other candidates, with retired Army General Wesley K. Clark running a distant third with 6 percent.

Because the poll's margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points, Kerry and Dean are in a statistical tie in the race for the state's March 2 presidential primary.

But that Kerry apparently cannot hold off Dean in his own home state is a reflection of the deep political problems faced by the senator, whose campaign for the Democratic nomination has been hit with internal turmoil and criticism that the candidate has failed to ignite any passion.

The Globe/WBZ survey echoes a University of Massachusetts poll taken early last week, in which Dean held a six-point lead among Bay State primary voters over Kerry. Dean was backed by 29 percent of the 400 Democrats and independents who were surveyed in the UMass poll, while Kerry got 23 percent.

The UMass survey also shows that Dean runs slightly stronger against President Bush, leading 58 percent to 34 percent. Kerry leads Bush by 56 percent to 38 percent.

Massachusetts residents, by a solid margin, said they supported the Supreme Judicial Court's landmark decision legalizing gay marriage, according to a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll.

The poll of 400 people, the first survey of Bay State residents since the court's historic ruling, indicated that 50 percent agreed with the justices' decision, and 38 percent opposed it. Eleven percent expressed no opinion.

The poll also indicated that a majority opposed efforts by the Legislature, Governor Mitt Romney, and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly to block same-sex marriages and allow civil unions instead.

A majority, 53 percent, also opposed a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban same-sex marriages by defining marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. Thirty-six percent supported the amendment.

Among women, 55 percent agreed with the justices' decision, and 35 percent disagreed, the Globe/WBZ poll showed. Men are more evenly split, with 44 percent agreeing and 42 percent disagreeing.

The court's decision also draws strong support from Democrats, young and middle-age people, registered independents, and college graduates.

Catholics surveyed were evenly divided on the ruling, as were Protestants.