Undecided Voters

CLAREMONT, N.H. - She watched. She waited. She read up. And now, just days before primary day, Cheryl Hayes is finally getting around to deciding whom to vote for in Tuesday's Democratic primary here. But she won't be rushed. "I leave it open until right before - and I mean right before," Hayes, 50, of Charlestown, said while waiting for Howard Dean to show up at the opera house that doubles as this town's city hall. "That's why I'm here." In the final days before the primary, as many as one in four New Hampshire voters, like Hayes, has yet to decide on a candidate, polls show.

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.

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.

It didn't work when she preached about belt-tightening in her bid for a school board seat two years ago."They didn't want to hear that the money wasn't there for their programs," Sandra French said of that unsuccessful campaign.But yesterday, after coming out on top in a four-way race for two seats, she attributed her victory in part to that same message -- "anything outside of the classroom is fair game," she had said -- and voters' concerns about the future of education in tough economic times.

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.

Some opponents of property-tax-limitation proposals in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties feel heartened by a poll showing that support for the measures has slipped in the last month.But the election is suddenly only hours away and opponents acknowledge that time may be running out on their uphill battle against the tax caps."Obviously, we still have a long way to go," Carole B. Baker, an Anne Arundel County councilwoman and tax-cap foe, said yesterday.John D. O'Neill, a proponent of the tax cap in Baltimore County, said he remains confident that the cap will win voter approval, despite a new Sun poll showing the number of undecided voters has grown.

NOW THAT THE first presidential debate between George Bush and John Kerry is here, I'd like to discuss this mysterious segment of the voting bloc we keep hearing so much about. Yes, I'd like to address you, the undecided voter. First of all, we keep hearing different numbers about how many of you are out there. Some surveys say you're 10 percent of the electorate. Others say you're more like 20 percent. The fact is, no one seems to know for sure - not the Zogby Poll, not the Gallup Poll, no one. To the pollsters, you people are like, I don't know, Mormon polygamists or something.

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.

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.

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.