This week's Economist/You Gov poll has just come out and it contains a lot of good news for John Kerry. The poll was conducted August 23-25, with 2129 respondents ("Registered to vote": 1807, "Will definitely vote": 1646), and the MoE is +/- 2%.

Suppose the election for President were being held TODAY. Who would you vote for? George W. Bush, the Republican; John F Kerry, the Democrat; Ralph Nader, an independent candidate, or someone else?

Total; Def to vote (Last week, Two Weeks ago)
George Bush 44% (41, 43); 45% (42, 45)
John Kerry 47% (48, 48); 49% (51, 49)
Ralph Nader 2% (2, 1); 1% (1, 1)
Someone else 2% 2%
Would not vote 1% 0%
Don't know 5% 3%

As of now, what do you think you are most likely to end up doing on November 2?

(Total, Def to vote)
George W Bush 45% 46%
John F Kerry 49% 51%
Ralph Nader 2% 2%
Someone else 3% 2%
Not vote at all 1% 0%

In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time?

(Total, Def to vote)
Satisfied 37% 40%
Dissatisfied
59% 58%
Don't know 4% 2%

Do you approve or disapprove of the way President George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

(Total, Def to vote)
Approve 41% 43%
Disapprove 54% 54%
Don't know 5% 3%

Who would you prefer to be in control of the CONGRESS after the next election?

(Total, Def to vote)
Democrats 44% 47%
Republicans 36% 41%
Don't know 19% 12%

Overall, it looks like the small post-convention bounce for John Kerry has held as his numbers this week are almost exactly the same as they were two weeks ago. Additionally, with the Congress question, it looks like Americans favor the Democrats as a whole.

One of the most interesting things that comes out of this poll is that while Kerry's numbers have remained the same (near 50%, which is great for a challenger) or slightly moved down (within the margin of error), Bush's are the same as two weeks ago, meaning that he has yet to receive a pre-Convention bounce like Kerry did. Additionally, notice his overall approval rating at an enemic 41%!!!!!

Although there is slight movement from the horrible ads from Bush supporters attacking John Kerry's war record, it's minimal, at most. Additionally, in the coming weeks, we'll see that Americans will tolerate negative ads, but they abhore what they see as mean-spirited ads. As a result, looks for this vicious attack to backfire horribly for the Bush campaign.

Lastly, I think another great part of this poll is that Kerry is actually doing better with "Likely" voters than "Registered" voters, which is rarely the case for a Democrat. I guess the only thing I can say is that "things are turning a corner" in this campaign!