Report Summary

This is the sixth in a series of national surveys commissioned by Times Mirror to assess the American electorate.  ….  The October pre-election survey deals with the voter’s assessments of the Bush-Dukakis race near the end of the 1988 presidential campaign.  it utilizes the Times mirror typology to gauge opinions of the candidates, important issues facing the nation, and the role of the media and news organizations in the campaign.

For this survey, telephone interviews were administered to a nationally representative sample of 2,006 registered voters during the period from october 23-26, 1988.

The latest Times Mirror/Gallup survey shows no change in voter preferences when compared to the most recent Gallup Polls.  In fact, over the past six weeks there has been no significant change in candidate preferences and little change in the individual favorability evaluations accorded Bush and Dukakis.  currently, Bush leads Dukakis by eight percentage poins among all registered voters and by 11 points when the sample is narrowed to those most likely to case ballots on November eighth.  …

On balance, voter preference for each candidate is about as soft as we found it in September and there has been only a modest decline in the percentage of swing voters – those who support a candidate but say they might switch, plus the undecideds – 29% currently, down from 34% in the previous Times Mirror survey.  Neither candidate has an edge in strong support, 24% for bush and 20% for Dukakis and both show the same percentage of supporters saying they might defect to the opponent.