Polling Balm and Worst Negatives for Bush

For what it's worth - this could change in the blink of an eye:

Look below at the current national poll bar chart from PollingReport.com.
Note the Gallup poll way out of synch with the rest?
On the national average (1000 people throughout the US) this race is close.

Further, in the brand new Zogby Battleground state polls, there is much improvement.
Quoting MyDD:

Kerry "leads" (I'm counting leads inside the MoE as leads for the sake of this post) in AR (0.1), FL (0.6), IA (3.0), MI (6.0), MN (9.7), NH (3.6), NM (12.7), OR (12.0), PA (3.1), WA (8.7) and WI (2.4). Bush leads in MO (5.4), NV (2.2), OH (3.3), TN (5.5) and WV (12.4). It all looks good except for West Virginia.

Especially important is that Kerry has surged to a double-digit lead in Oregon. Voting is already underway out there, so being ahead now counts as much as it does in many states on November 1st.

This should bring the very fluid Electoral-Vote map to a more pleasing level, probably Kerry up in the lead for an instant. Though I'm sure it will bounce all over the place before all is said and done.

Oh yeah and this from one of the most trusted pollsters:

President Bush's Ratings Slip to Lowest Level of His Presidency, According to Latest Harris Poll

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - September 17, 2004 - President Bush's ratings have slipped to 45 percent positive and 54 percent negative, the lowest ratings of his presidency, according to a new Harris Poll. These numbers compare to 50 percent positive, 49 percent negative in June and 48 percent positive, 51 percent negative in August. This downward trend no doubt helps to explain why the lead which the president enjoyed over Senator Kerry immediately after the Republican convention in New York - the so-called "convention bounce" - has now disappeared.