The Nation - News from Feb. 15, 1987

Former Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.), for the first time in 18 months of test elections, leads Vice President George Bush as the popular favorite for the presidency in 1988, the Gallup Poll reported. Hart is the choice of 51% of registered voters to 38% for Bush, with 11% undecided. In five similar tests last year, neither man held a significant advantage. Bush led Hart by a 5-4 margin in the poll’s first assessment, in July, 1985. In other tests, Hart leads Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), 50% to 37%, and Hart tops Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.), 58% to 25%.