Polls show Thune catching up to Daschle in S. Dakota

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Polls show Republican John Thune of South Dakota inching closer in his race to unseat Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat, with two months remaining until Election Day.

A Republican poll shows Mr. Thune -- a former congressman who lost to Sen. Tim Johnson, South Dakota Democrat, in 2002 -- pulling slightly ahead of Mr. Daschle, while a Democratic poll shows him at least closing the gap.

The Republican poll, conducted Aug. 24-26, showed Mr. Thune leading 50 percent to 48 percent over Mr. Daschle. The survey of 500 likely voters by Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies had a margin of error of 4.38 percentage points.

"It is clear that John Thune's advertising is having the desired effect," Mr. Bolger said. Mr. Thune began running TV ads in mid-July, he said.

The Daschle campaign dismissed the Republican poll as a ploy to encourage monetary contributions to Mr. Thune's campaign, and cited its own poll showing Mr. Thune trailing Mr. Daschle.

A Democratic poll conducted Aug. 25-30 showed Mr. Daschle leading with 53 percent to Mr. Thune's 45 percent. The Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research poll surveyed 600 likely voters and had a margin of error of four percentage points.

A Zogby survey in May showed Mr. Daschle leading Mr. Thune by 13 percentage points. That poll had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points. A poll conducted in May by Mason-Dixon, with a margin of error of five percentage points, showed Mr. Daschle in a tighter race, with 49 percent of respondents favoring him and 47 percent supporting Mr. Thune.

Daschle campaign spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said, "There are 10 percent more Republicans in the state than Democrats. ... For a Democrat to be up eight points over a Republican with name identification like John Thune and 60 days to go is bad news for the GOP."

Thune campaign manager Dick Waddams said he does not rely heavily on polls but that one real inference can be made: "Daschle went on TV in July 2003 and as of June 30 he had spent almost $9 million and is now probably up to $12 million, and despite all that, he remains in a highly competitive race."

Mr. Waddams attributed Mr. Thune's gains to positive advertisements and Mr. Daschle's brand of politics to "say one thing at home and do another in Washington."