By Carl Weiser
Enquirer Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - A new poll of Ohio voters shows President Bush gained ground after the Republican National Convention.

The USA Today-CNN-Gallup Poll released Wednesday found Bush leading Sen. John Kerry 52 percent to 44 percent among likely voters. It's one of the largest leads either man has shown in months.

ELECTION 2004

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However, the margin of error on the poll is 4 percentage points, which means Bush could be up by as much as 16 percentage points, or he could be tied with Kerry.

Both sides say they expect the race to even up as Election Day nears.

"Obviously we'd rather be ahead than behind," said Hamilton County's Bush campaign chairman, Greg Hartmann. "I expect the margin to close as the days continue. We still expect this to be a close race in Ohio."

The poll suggests a two-month decline for the Kerry campaign in Ohio. A similar poll in July showed Kerry led Bush by 6 percentage points. Just after the Democratic convention he led by 2; now he trails by 8.

"Within the next few days you'll see this race extremely tight again," said the Ohio Democratic campaign spokesman, Brendon Cull.

Other national polls have shown a similar bounce for Bush.

The state, with its 20 electoral votes, has been deemed ground zero for the presidential campaign. John Edwards was in Chillicothe on Tuesday; Kerry was in Cincinnati on Wednesday; Vice President Dick Cheney will be in Cincinnati today and President Bush visits Portsmouth and Chillicothe on Friday.

The poll, conducted Sept. 4-7, is based on phone interviews with 794 registered voters, of whom 661 were classified as likely voters.

Like other recent polls, it shows a gap between likely voters and registered voters.

Among registered voters, Bush and Kerry are statistically tied - though a month ago Kerry had a 10 percentage-point lead.

A registered voter is exactly that, someone who has registered to vote. A likely voter is someone who, according to pollsters, almost surely will vote on Election Day. They base that conclusion on how a voter answers up to seven key questions.

A separate Wall Street Journal Battleground States poll out Wednesday showed Bush with an 11 percentage-point lead among Ohio's likely voters. Bush leads 54 percent to 43 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

"We have to continue to run like we're 10 points behind," said spokesman Kevin Madden of the Bush campaign.