CNN poll: Bush maintains 7-point lead over Gore

By CNN Polling Director Keating Holland

WASHINGTON (CNN) - GOP presidential candidate Texas Gov. George W. Bush continued to maintain an advantage over Democratic Vice President Al Gore in Sunday's CNN/USA Today/Gallup tracking poll.

Forty-nine percent of respondents said they supported Bush while 42 percent said they would vote for Gore, no change at all from Saturday's poll.

Support for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader and Reform Party candidate Patrick Buchanan also remained unchanged at 3 percent and 1 percent respectively.

The poll results are not predictions, but instead are merely snapshots of who likely voters currently favor.

In the past, the poll has shown Bush with at least 48 percent of support for five consecutive days, and Gore with no more than 43 percent during that same length of time.

That stability indicates that Bush has built a solid advantage over his rival in the post-debate phase of the campaign.

As always, the key question is whether Bush can hold that advantage, since neither candidate has been able to permanently take control of the race since Labor Day.

In addition, Sunday's poll -- conducted from interviews with likely voters from October 26 through 29 -- suggests that likely voters currently prefer the Republican congressional candidate in their district over the Democratic candidate by a narrow 4-percentage point margin, 49 percent to 45 percent.

Each day, CNN is significantly increasing the number of interviews conducted for each poll. Saturday's poll was conducted from 1,368 interviews, compared with 1,858 interviews used for Sunday's poll.

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

October 25-27

Likely Voters' Choice for President

Bush      49%

Gore      42

Nader      3

Buchanan   1

Sampling error: +/-2.5 percentage points

Here are results from some other national polls on the presidential race