Wavering Voters Have Doubts About Bush...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Voters who haven't firmly committed to a presidential candidate are in a sour mood.

They tend to be more disapproving of President Bush, have a gloomier view of the economy and be more likely to think the country is headed down the wrong track. The mood of these persuadable voters prompted one veteran Republican strategist to warn the Bush campaign that dramatic steps are needed to prevent them from bolting to Democrat John Kerry.

Republican strategist Tony Fabrizio, the pollster for Republican Bob Dole's presidential run in 1996, warned the GOP about the sour mood of undecided voters in battleground states, a small slice of the uncommitted voters in the electorate.

Fabrizio, who supports Bush, wrote in a July 8 memo that such voters are "poised to break away from President Bush and to John Kerry."

"Clearly if these undecided voters were leaning any harder against the door of the Kerry camp, they would crash right through it," he wrote, suggesting the president do more to convince voters the economy is recovering and take a more aggressive stance in defining Kerry.

With polls suggesting voters are very interested in the election this year, strategists on both sides and independent analysts say they doubt negative campaigning will suppress voter turnout.

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