CBS News Monthly Poll #2, September 2004

This poll is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of the 2004 presidential campaign, including for whom they would likely vote -- George W. Bush, John Kerry, or Ralph Nader -- and their level of support for that candidate. Questions were also posed regarding candidates' handling of or ability to handle current issues, such as the campaign against terrorism, the economy, and the situation in Iraq. Additional survey questions, for example, queried respondents' perceptions of the future of Social Security benefits, responses to government issued terrorist attack warnings, opinions of the pharmaceutical industry, and likelihood of voting for a presidential candidate with a beard. Background information includes voter registration status, sex, labor union affiliation, military service, religion, education, political party leanings, age, ethnicity, marital status, urbanicity, frequency of religious participation, length of time lived at current address, political ideology, whether the respondent voted in the 2000 or 2002 elections, and income.