THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180449
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 46 lines
In seven weeks, North Carolinians will help elect a new president, and the latest poll shows that challenger Bob Dole has picked up power across the state.
Only in northeastern North Carolina and in the Raleigh-Durham area do a majority of voters want Democratic incumbent Bill Clinton to have a second term, the Mason-Dixon political survey showed Tuesday.
Over the state, the survey says Dole's Republican ticket has gained support and 47 percent of the likely voters now want him to win Nov. 5. Clinton was favored by 42 percent.
In July the same poll gave Dole a 44 percent to 43 percent lead over Clinton in North Carolina.
``A sign that North Carolina may ultimately be out of Clinton's reach is the surge in Clinton's negative rating in this most recent poll,'' said Del Ali, a Mason-Dixon researcher at the company's Columbia, Md., headquarters.
``The President has always been relatively unpopular in North Carolina,'' said Ali, ``but over the past two months his unfavorable name recognition has risen to a new high.''
``Statewide, only 36 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of Clinton and 47 percent have an unfavorable opinion - up from 41 percent,'' Ali said.
Ross Perot and his Reform Party pleased only 3 percent of the potential voters in the Mason-Dixon poll, the survey reported, and 8 percent of all the likely voters questioned said they are undecided.
Sixty percent of those polled said they didn't recognize the name of Pat Choate, the economist selected as a vice presidential running mate by Perot.
Seven percent said they didn't recognize the name of Jack Kemp, Dole's vice presidential running mate. One percent never heard of Al Gore, Clinton's incumbent vice president.
Wide demographic swings turned up in the Mason-Dixon study.
Of the 410 women polled, 46 percent preferred Clinton and 42 percent favored Dole.
Among men, 52 percent liked Dole and 38 percent favored Clinton. There were 646 whites in the poll and 167 blacks as well as two ``other.'' Democrats numbered 470, Republicans 280 and independents 65.
Ali said the margin for error of the poll was ``no more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.'' The poll was conducted among 815 registered voters between Sept. 13 and Sept. 15, Mason-Dixon officials said.
KEYWORDS: POLL by CNB