Poll shows Bush leads in Ohio, Missouri

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush leads Democratic challenger John Kerry in Missouri and Ohio, a USA Today poll published Thursday indicates.

The poll showed Kerry ahead in Washington state and tied with Bush in Pennsylvania, swing states that are important to Democratic chances for victory, the newspaper said.

Missouri, which was tied in a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll taken just before the Democratic National Convention in July, now shows Bush ahead of Kerry 55 percent to 41 percent among likely voters.

Ohio, where Bush lagged by 6 points in mid-July, now favors him by 9 points.

Republican strategists say the surveys indicate the momentum in the race favors Bush, but Kerry pollster Mark Mellman says the surveys were taken too soon after last week's Republican convention to be reliable.

The poll of likely voters in the four states was conducted Friday through Tuesday involving a range from 661 to 881 voters in each state. The margin of error for each is 4 percentage points.