Bush closes gap as candidates cross swords

George W Bush, the Republican presidential candidate, is closing the gap on his Democratic opponent, Vice-President Al Gore and now stands just two percentage points behind, according to the latest daily tracking poll issued by Reuters and MSNBC television yesterday.

George W Bush, the Republican presidential candidate, is closing the gap on his Democratic opponent, Vice-President Al Gore and now stands just two percentage points behind, according to the latest daily tracking poll issued by Reuters and MSNBC television yesterday.

The poll, which put Mr Bush on 42 per cent of the vote against Mr Gore's 44 per cent - a statistically insignificant gap - suggested that the Vice-President had been damaged by widely publicised allegations that he had elaborated or fabricated some of the anecdotes he used in last Tuesday's presidential debate.

Although Mr Gore was deemed to have won that debate when it came to the issues, the Republicans have successfully focused attention in the past few days on details like Mr Gore's purported visit to the scene of devastating wildfires in Texas (in fact, he went to the state on another occasion after a flood) and his mention of a Florida schoolgirl forced to stand in an overcrowded classroom (in fact, she stood for one day while new computers were being unpacked).

Over the weekend, Mr Gore sought to make up some of the lost ground by accusing Mr Bush of inexactitudes of his own.

He responded to two claims made by Mr Bush: that Mr Gore has outspent him on the campaign, and that Mr Gore's spending plans would increase the government employee payroll by 20,000 people.

The Vice-President called these claims the kind of mistake Mr Bush "makes on a regular basis".

Mr Bush, meanwhile, got tangled up in the details of his ambitious tax-cutting plan, while on the stump in Florida.

Having accused his opponent of "fuzzy math" during the debate, he had to admit getting trapped in some fuzzy math of his own - an episode seized on by the Gore camp as further evidence of his shaky grip on his own campaign issues.