Vice President Al Gore's lead over George W. Bush in a tight race for the White House has disintegrated with just four weeks to go until election day, according to the latest USA Today/Gallup poll.
Gore trailed the Republican governor of Texas 41-49 percent in the poll of 769 likely voters released on Monday following a spate of adverse publicity concerning the Democratic vice president's alleged tendency to embellish facts.
Given the four percentage point margin of error either way, Bush's lead is statistically insignificant.
However, the turn around for Gore is telling. A week ago the vice president had an 11-point lead in the same poll.
Gore has been dogged by allegations that he overstated his contribution to the creation of the Internet and, more recently, mischaracterized school crowding conditions in Florida and embellished a critique of prescription drug expenses -- wrongly saying his mother-in-law's arthritis medicine was three times as expensive as similar pills prescribed to his dog.
"He's gaining a reputation as a serial exaggerator," Karen Hughes, the Bush campaign communications director, charged on Sunday.
Other polls confirm the reversal for Gore in a race that nontheless remains tight ahead of the second presidential debate on Wednesday.
A Time/CNN poll released Monday has Bush 47-45 ahead of Gore, with a margin of error of plus or minus four percent -- WASHINGTON(AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
