"HALP US PRESYDUNT BUSH AND DIK CHEENY- WE HAV THURTY FOR PURCENT APROVAL'

(pretty damn funny eh, Pat?)

Voters Focus on Iraq as House Democrats Lead in CBS/NYT Poll By Theresa Barry

Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Fifty-two percent of likely voters would support a Democratic House candidate, and 34 percent would vote for a Republican should the election be held today, a CBS News/ New York Times poll said.

The first of two polls released today gave Democrats the 18 percentage-point lead in midterm House elections. The second poll, on same-sex marriage, showed little change in U.S. attitudes, with most Americans, 57 percent, saying gay couples should be allowed to marry or to form civil unions. Thirty-eight percent said they favored no recognition of same-sex unions.

Six of every 10 people surveyed said they will decide on the issues, with their main focus on the war in Iraq, according to the CBS News/New York Times poll. Twenty-seven percent of voters ranked Iraq as the most important issue, the poll showed. The economy was most important to 13 percent of those surveyed, with illegal immigration the top concern of 8 percent and terrorism the major issue for 7 percent.

Both polls were conducted by telephone in a random sample of 1,084 people nationwide from Oct. 27 to Oct. 31 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.