President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are locked in a tie for the popular vote, according to an Associated Press poll. Voters seem open to change in the White House — most disapprove of the president's performance at home and in Iraq — but still harbor doubts about making the switch.

Bush's strength continues to be in a perception by voters that he is the most qualified to protect the country, though his advantage has dwindled in recent weeks. Some 56 percent say the country is on the wrong track.

In the AP-Ipsos Public Affairs poll, the Democratic ticket of Kerry and Sen. John Edwards got support from 49 percent of those who said they were likely to vote, and the Republican team of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney got 46 percent, within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The Oct. 18-20 survey, released Thursday, included 976 likely voters.

Ron Fournier, "AP Poll: Bush, Kerry in Dead Heat", AP, October 21, 2004

I don't entirely understand why a 1-point Bush lead is called a lead and a three point Kerry lead is called a tie, but I guess I'm not writing the headlines.