Do people really, really hate Kerry, or really, really like Bush:

The nationwide poll of 981 adults, taken May 2-8 (after the prison scandal broke) revealed that among 823 registered voters Bush leads Kerry 46% to 41%, with independent Ralph Nader (news - web sites) getting 5%. In a two-way race, Bush leads Kerry 47% to 44%.

In an IBD/TIPP poll taken April 16-22, Bush led by four points in a three-man race.

In swing states, Bush widened his lead from 3 points in mid-April to 9 points in early May. He now leads Kerry in the so-called battleground states 49% to 40%.

But the race is very close among independent voters. Bush gets 40% of their votes; Kerry gets 39%.

Bush's presidential leadership ratings, as measured by the IBD/TIPP Presidential Leadership Index, also rose - from 49.5 in April to 51.8 in May, a gain of 4.5%.

"Despite a tough month, Bush seems to have come out ahead," said Raghavan Mayur, president of TIPP, a unit of TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence and IBD's polling partner. "Bush's ratings have improved among 15 of the 21 demographic groups we track."

Intensity of support among Bush voters is much stronger than support for Kerry, the poll continues to show. While 68% of Bush's supporters say they support him strongly, only 38% of Kerry's supporters say the same for him.

al-Zarqawi may have done more harm to al-Qaeda than good. As sad as I am to say this, the graphic beheading of an American civilian makes the pictures from the Iraqi prison look tame. The American public trusts Bush and will only rally around him more after the pictures and video is seen by people.