Poll: Dole Exits In 2nd Place Tie
Elizabeth Dole announced Wednesday that she is removing herself from the list of Republican presidential contenders. Dole has faced an uphill battle in the last few months against the Republican frontrunner, George W. Bush, whose support for the nomination has overwhelmed that of the other GOP candidates.
Dole leaves the race tied with John McCain for second place for her party's nomination, far behind candidate Bush. Her high point in CBS News polls occurred in June, when 14 percent of likely Republican primary voters supported her for the nomination. This most recent CBS News poll, conducted in September, shows her with 9 percent.
WANT TO WIN REPUBLICAN NOMINATION
| 9/29-10/3 | 9/14-9/18 | 6/99 | ||
| | | | ||
| Bush | 60% | 54% | 48% | |
| Dole | 9 | 9 | 14 | |
| McCain | 8 | 5 | 5 | |
| Buchanan | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
| Forbes | 4 | 8 | 5 | |
Women likely to vote in a Republican primary ranked Dole second after George W. Bush; among men she finished behind Bush, McCain, Buchanan and Forbes.
Dole's favorable ratings among registered voters took a dip in June from which they never recovered; at the same time, her unfavorable ratings rose. About half of registered voters expressed no opinion of Dole.
OPINION OF ELIZABETH DOLE
| 10/99 | 6/99 | 4/99 | |
| | | | |
| Favorable | 28% | 27% | 37% |
| Unfavorable | 23 | 24 | 15 |
Much of the drop in her favorability ratings between April and now stems from a decline in favorability among women voters. However, even among male voters Dole's favorability has dropped in the past six monhs.
OPINION OF ELIZABETH DOLE
| WOMEN | MEN | |||
| | | |||
| 10/99 | 4/99 | 10/99 | 4/99 | |
| | | | | |
| Favorable | 28% | 40% | 27% | 34% |
| Unfavorable | 20 | 13 | 25 | 18 |
The poll conducted in October was a nationwide random sample of 871 adults. The margin of error on the total sample was plus or minus 3 percentage points for the entire sample. The margin of error for registered voters was plus or minus 4 points. The poll conducted in late September has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points among Republican primary voters.