There must be some nervous folks in the Republican party these days. The downward trends for Bush are reason for cautious optimism on our side, but there's still a long way to go.
Kerry led by 5 percentage points in Pennsylvania, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters. In Michigan and New Mexico, he is ahead by 7 percentage points, according to the American Research Group Inc.
Kerry is tied in North Carolina, a state Bush won in 2000 by 12.8 percentage points, a Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey found.
``The underlying numbers show there are concerns for the Bush administration,'' Dick Bennett, president of Manchester, New Hampshire-based American Research Group, said in an interview. ``Independent voters, who are considered the most persuadable, tend to be lining up behind Kerry.''