A Gallup Poll released Friday showed that President George W. Bush was widening his lead over Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry among likely voters, a result widely varying from other polls showing the two were narrowing their gap.

The Gallup Poll showed that Bush enjoys support of 55 percent of likely voters, compared with 42 percent for Kerry. The gap narrowed to 8 percentage points among registered voters, with 52 percent for Bush and 44 percent for Kerry.

Even with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points considered, the gap was significant. Actually, the level of support for Bush was the highest he has seen in the Gallup Poll since January, and his job approval rating also rose to its highest level since April, with 52 percent saying they approved of his performance and 45 percent saying they did not.

The Gallup poll was released just one day after two national polls showed that Kerry has significantly narrowed his gap with Bush and settled into a virtual tie in the race for the White House.

The Pew Research Center and Harris Interactive found equal levels of support for the two candidates as Kerry rebounded from the withering attacks the Republicans have launched during the party's convention that ended on Sept. 2.

The latest of two Pew polls, conducted Sept. 11-14, showed Bush and Kerry were tied with 46 percent of support among registered voters each. An earlier Pew poll, conducted Sept. 8-10, showed Bush led Kerry by 52 percent of registered voters to 40 percent.     

The Harris Interactive poll for The Wall Street Journal, which was conducted Sept. 9-13, gave Kerry a 48 to 47 percent lead over Bush.

The Gallup Poll was conducted at roughly the same time as the second Pew poll.

Soon after the Republican convention, Bush led Kerry by up to 11 percentage points, forcing Kerry to shuffle his staff and sharpen his message. Other recent polls have shown Bush's convention bounce was fading.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2004)