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By Associated PressA tight race is likely in the state, with the economy taking priority.
President Bush held a slight lead over Democratic front-runner John Kerry among voters in Florida, a state expected to be a battleground in Bush's re-election bid, according to a poll released Sunday.
Bush had the support of 47 percent of respondents, while the Massachusetts senator had 42 percent and 10 percent were undecided, according to the poll for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Florida Times-Union.
The president had a larger edge over another Democratic contender, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, 49 percent to 41 percent. Nine percent were undecided. Independent candidate Ralph Nader had 1 percent in each matchup.
The telephone survey of 600 likely voters who vote regularly in state elections was conducted in February by Research 2000. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The poll numbers back up expectations of another tight race in Florida for Bush. He won Florida by just 537 votes in the 2000 election.
Former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, Bush's campaign chairman, said he thought the president could take Florida decisively in November.
"Florida is an important state to win," said Racicot, who spoke Saturday at a Republican event in Democrat-rich Broward County. "We're going to be here every day between now and Election Day, emphasizing the president's steady leadership and showing how he is doing what's necessary to secure freedom in the United States and around the world."
Kerry is scheduled to make several campaign stops in Central Florida's swing-vote Interstate 4 corridor this week in the days leading up to the March 9 primary.
"The American people are ready for change. Four more years of this administration will only lead to greater job losses and deficits," said Kerry's deputy campaign manager, Marcus Jadotte.
In the poll, the most decisive factor was the economy, with 30 percent picking that issue.
Five percent rated the president's handling of the economy as excellent and 39 percent called it good, while 39 percent said fair and 12 percent said poor.
Thirteen percent of respondents said the war on terrorism was the most important reason behind their choice. Homeland security had 10 percent.
Fifty-eight percent said Bush's handling of the war on terrorism was good or excellent, while 33 percent said fair and 7 percent said poor.
Slightly less than half, 49 percent, said the president's handling of the war in Iraq had been good or excellent, while 35 percent called it fair and 10 percent said poor.
Just over half said the war in Iraq had been worthwhile. Fifty-eight percent said it made the United States safer.
Asked which candidate would be better on matters of foreign policy and security, 44 percent picked Bush while 32 percent said Kerry.
Bush might be helped by another cause: He backed a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, something 54 percent of respondents favored and 40 percent opposed.