The Associated Press
Poll: Forbes' Ads Backfire; Dole Gains Support
By The Associated Press,12/29/95
>    
>    MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Millionaire publisher Steve Forbes' campaign
>    is questioning the validity of a poll that says his recent negative
>    ads have backfired and helped Republican front-runner Bob Dole in the
>    New Hampshire presidential primary.
>    
>    "The Forbes attack ads have boosted Dole back to his strongest
>    position this year," said Dick Bennett, whose American Research Group
>    conducted the survey released Wednesday.
>    
>    "This is a great Christmas gift to Dole from the Forbes campaign even
>    though it was obviously a mistake," said Bennett.
>    
>    Forbes surged early in the campaign after airing a series of
>    television commercials touting his plan to get rid of the Internal
>    Revenue Service and institute a flat income tax.
>    
>    A Boston Herald//WCVB-TV poll released last week and conducted earlier
>    in the month showed Forbes ads were largely responsible for his
>    second-place standing. Since then, the attack ads have gone into heavy
>    circulation.
>    
>    Forbes' recent ads attack Dole, the Senate majority leader, and Texas
>    Sen. Phil Gramm as "Washington politicians" who have engineered
>    federal tax increases.
>    
>    According to Bennett's poll, conducted Dec. 19-22, likely Republican
>    voters who have heard Forbes' attack ads are more apt to vote for Dole
>    and less apt to vote for Forbes.
>    
>    John McLaughlin, a Forbes consultant and pollster, questioned
>    Bennett's poll.
>    
>    "My question is: Why are these polls so different," he said, referring
>    to the earlier poll done for the Herald and WCVB by the University of
>    New Hampshire.
>    
>    The poll was conducted by telephone among a random sample of 560
>    likely Republican primary voters. Among them, 58 percent said they
>    were aware of the attack ads; 42 percent said they were unaware of any
>    negative advertising.
>    
>    Among those who knew about the negative ads, 49 percent said they
>    would vote for Dole, 7 percent for Forbes. Among those unaware of the
>    ads, 33 percent said they would vote for Dole, 17 percent for Forbes.
>    
>    Overall, 42 percent of likely Republican primary voters said they
>    would vote for Dole if the primary were held today. That's an increase
>    of 12 percentage points from a similar poll conducted at the beginning
>    of the month.
>    
>    The margin of error was 4.2 percentage points.
>    
>    Among other candidates, Forbes was favored by 11 percent of likely
>    Republican voters; conservative commentator Pat Buchanan, 10 percent;
>    Gramm, 9 percent; former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, 6 percent;
>    Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, 2 percent; Alan Keyes, Morry Taylor and
>    California Rep. Bob Dornan 1 percent each. Seventeen percent said they
>    were undecided.