Dems '04: Who Are These Guys?

CBS Poll: Democratic Presidential Contenders Unknown To Most Voters

(CBS)  There's good news and bad news for the Democratic presidential candidates in a CBS News poll released Thursday.

The good news is that President Bush's overall job rating is at its lowest point since before the start of the war in Iraq; it's now 60 percent, down from 66 percent last month.

The bad news is that none of the Democratic challengers seem ready to take advantage of the president's falling numbers, since most Americans have no idea who the Democratic challengers are.

Just one in three Americans say they can name any of the candidates for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. Even most Democratic voters are clueless; 66 percent of them draw a blank when asked to name one of their party's potential standard bearers.

None of the Democratic candidates has a clear edge in name recognition. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts were the most often mentioned, named by 7 percent of those polled.

Two candidates with supposedly high-profile national reputations were next: Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who ran for vice president in 2000, at 6 percent; and Rep. Dick Gephardt, the former House Democratic Leader, at 3 percent.

Rev. Al Sharpton was named by 2 percent of those polled, while three other candidates – Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio – were named by just 1 percent.

Two months ago, Lieberman was the most frequently cited candidate by both Democrats and the overall public, while Dean was named by just 1 percent.

The nationwide poll of 753 adults was conducted by telephone July 8-9; it has an error margin of plus or minus four percentage points.