Undecided Voters

With three climactic weeks remaining in the fiercely fough Maryland governor's race, the candidates are scrambling for ways to attract undecided voters -- a segment of the electorate that could make all the difference come Election Day.Their target is the truly uncommitted, a group within the broader electorate.They number about 175,000 voters of the 1.5 million who are expected to vote this year. Add another 400,000 voters if the definition of undecided extends to those whose support for Democratic Gov. Parris N. Glendening or GOP challenger Ellen R. Sauerbrey is soft.

SAN DIEGO -- In scathing, often personal terms, Bob Dole repeatedly attacked President Clinton last night as a politician who lacks ideas, breaks his campaign promises and exaggerates his accomplishments.Dole, trailing badly in the polls and needing to give his candidacy a jolt, turned almost every question in the 90-minute television debate into a criticism of the president."I'll keep my word." Dole said, over and over. "My word is my bond." He said many Americans have lost their faith in government because of Clinton administration scandals that occur "on almost a daily basis."

Just how difficult will it be for Mary Pat Clarke to oust Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke? And just how vulnerable is Mr. Schmoke as he seeks a third term?Very difficult -- and somewhat vulnerable. That is the consensus of political analysts and those who follow city elections in the wake of a poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research for The Sun and WMAR-TV Channel 2 that showed Mr. Schmoke with a solid 15-point lead.To gain another four years in office, Mayor Schmoke, the city's first elected black mayor, has to keep and slightly increase his al- ready strong support among African-American voters, political scientists said.

MOSCOW -- If elections were tomorrow, whom would you vote for?That's a simple enough question in the United States, where the choice is usually Democrat, Republican or undecided.But not in Russia. Here the Dec. 17 ballot for parliamentary elections could have been written by Tolstoy for its sheer length -- 43 parties are listed -- or by Dostoevsky for its sheer complexity -- each half of the 450-seat parliament will be selected under different rules.Even the simplest parts are difficult. While Gallup and Roper in the United States can just dial a scientifically selected set of phone numbers, Russian pollsters cannot: Only 40 percent of households nationwide have phones, and even those are not listed in any phone book.

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. is leading challenger Eleanor M. Carey just days before the Democratic primary election, but she is still within striking distance, a new poll shows.Another incumbent, Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, has a mammoth lead in his Democratic primary race, while his opponent has made minor inroads with a negative advertising campaign.Those are the results of a telephone poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc. Wednesday and Thursday for The Sun and other news organizations.

Could 1994 be the year Paul Sarbanes' luck runs out?After winning election three times to both the House and the Senate, will Mr. Sarbanes' liberal voting record turn into a liability with a Maryland electorate exhibiting tendencies toward moderate conservatism, Republicans and non-incumbents?Optimists within the Republican hierarchy think this could be so. They point to a recent Mason-Dixon Poll in which Mr. Sarbanes fell far short of the magic 50 percent threshold in matchups against a bevy of GOP candidates.

A survey released today by Anne Arundel Community College shows county residents are almost evenly split betweenPresident George Bush and Gov. Bill Clinton, but are united in their view that the economy is the nation's most serious concern.According to the telephone survey of 577 residents conducted between Oct. 5 and 8, 40.2 percent of those likely to vote said they favored Mr. Clinton, compared with 36.1 percent who favored Mr. Bush.The difference is not statistically significant, since it falls within the survey's five-point margin of error.

WASHINGTON -- Perplexed by presidential politics? Can't choose a candidate?You aren't alone; 1992 is shaping up as the year of the undecided voter.A majority of those planning to cast ballots in the Democratic primaries say they don't know the candidates well enough to form an opinion, polls show. And yet, the midpoint of the nomination contest is fast approaching. By March 17, less than three weeks away, fully half the pledged delegates to this summer's Democratic convention will have been chosen.

WASHINGTON -- Two days before the election, Bill Clinton i clinging to a clear edge over George Bush in the presidential contest.The Democrat holds a lopsided advantage in the all-important competition for electoral votes and leads among likely voters by between 3 and 8 percentage points, according to the latest polls.Independent Ross Perot, though given no chance of winning, remains the candidate with the greatest potential to change the dynamics of the race. The results in several states on Tuesday could well turn on whether his backers stick with the Texas billionaire or whether they shift their allegiance to another candidate if they conclude he cannot win.As the campaign entered its closing hours, undecided voters -- some of them former Perot supporters -- appeared to be moving more toward Mr. Bush than Mr. Clinton.

The 1992 Maryland presidential primary campaign bolts toward a conclusion Tuesday with no certain Democratic winner in sight and no certainty among Democratic voters, many of whom appear more confused than enthusiastic about the state's earliest-ever primary."

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain blitzed the political and geographic map of the United States yesterday as the presidential election moved into its last hours with the candidates making their last appeals to undecided voters and swing states. The major party candidates sought to cram in one more rally, one more denunciation of a foe and one more exhortation for supporters to go to the polls today. Experts estimate that about 130 million people will vote this year; tens of millions already have waited in long lines to cast their ballots.

One more day and it'll be over. One more day and the Campaign That Never Ends finally ends. Think how different life will be after tomorrow's election. No more campaign commercials to get you all worked up. No more 24-hour coverage of Barack Obama and John McCain speechifying in front of the adoring wives and frenzied supporters to drive you nuts. No more Gallup polls, Nielsen polls, New York Times/CBS News polls and every other poll every 5 minutes. No more Joe the Plumber. OK, that likely won't happen.

With his party's nomination finally in hand, Sen. Barack Obama urged Democratic leaders in Maryland and elsewhere to realize that an extraordinary organizational effort would be needed for him to win in November. He was young and inexperienced, and he was black. He had to be more than an inspirational speaker. We have to change the game, he said. His evolving plan required doubling and redoubling what is often called the ground game: voter registration and turnout. He would need a 21st Century version of what campaigns have always done.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - According to two polls, Barack Obama beat John McCain in Tuesday night's debate. CNN's national poll of debate watchers found that 54 percent said Obama did the best job, compared with 30 percent who said McCain performed better. While 51 percent of those polled said they had a favorable opinion of McCain, unchanged from before the debate, 64 percent said they had a favorable opinion of Obama, up 4 percentage points from before the debate. By more than a 2-to-1 margin, 65 percent to 28 percent, more people said they found Obama more likable than McCain during the debate, according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corp.

One week before Baltimore's Democratic primary, the race for City Council president remains extremely tight, with Michael Sarbanes, a longtime activist, and incumbent Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake attracting nearly equal support, according to a new poll conducted for The Sun. With a sizable number of undecided voters -- 28 percent -- the candidates are battling for every vote in the final stretch of the campaign in what will likely be the closest election...

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Sen. John Kerry slammed President Bush again yesterday for his handling of the Iraq war, saying he "failed in his fundamental obligation as commander in chief" and endangered Americans by neglecting to plan adequately for the mission. Kerry sharpened his attacks, using a new report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency about the disappearance of powerful explosives from an Iraqi site that U.S. troops were supposed to secure. "Despite devastating evidence that his administration's failure here has put our troops and our citizens in greater danger, George Bush has not offered a single word of explanation," Kerry said in a speech here.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Sen. John Kerry worked to give undecided voters a more personal look at him while stoking his base supporters here yesterday, attending church services with a black congregation before delivering a speech on his faith and values. With the list of competitive states in the presidential race down to about a dozen and national polls showing President Bush and Kerry tied, both candidates prepared for a whirlwind last week of campaigning, complete with eye-popping rallies in battleground states and media blitzes aimed at reaching millions of voters just before they go to the polls.

11 days until Election Day, Tuesday Nov. 2 MILWAUKEE, Wis. - John Kerry rose before dawn yesterday, donned camouflage clothing, grabbed a shotgun and trudged through a damp cornfield to hunt geese. By midday, he was back in his typical uniform - blue suit, silk tie - to talk about science and his plan to provide federal funding for stem cell research. The two stops on the rapidly shortening campaign trail could not have looked more different. But in fact, they point to the same goal: wooing undecided voters.

WAKEFIELD, Ohio -- John Kerry, locked in a dead heat with President Bush just over two weeks before Election Day, is finally getting to ask voters the question he has been wanting to pose all along. Are you better off than you were four years ago? Kerry, his candidacy bolstered by strong performances in three closely watched presidential debates, is in the throes of an intensive push to turn voters against Bush as he reminds them of the mistakes he says the president has made. Kerry plans in the coming days to paint the president as a hopelessly out-of-touch leader who has cruelly turned his back on middle-class families in favor of rich and powerful interests, while presenting himself to voters as a strong alternative who cares about ordinary people.

What: Debate watching party. Where: Cockeysville Info: We don't have a big-screen TV but we do have TiVo so guests can scream and swear without the worry of missing anything. In case there's a defining moment (such as "and you're no John Kennedy") we can watch it over and over again. - From a recent online posting for a debate-watch party Imagine the possibilities: A crisp fall evening, a bottle of Yuengling, a spirited conversation about deficits and health care - all served with a large televised helping of John Kerry and George Bush.