JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: Gore will spend the weekend in Florida preparing for Tuesday's first debate against Bush. Polls show the race is a statistical dead heat. But, as CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider sees it, the momentum appears to be tilting in Bush's favor.</s>WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Kisses fade, and so do convention bounces. That's the big poll story this week. Al Gore's lead has faded away. Just a week ago, Gore was 10 points ahead in the CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup tracking poll. Now the poll is dead even. The "big mo" in this race is not momentum; it's motivation. A week ago, when Gore was in the lead, 64 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Republicans said they were paying a lot of attention to the campaign. The two parties were pretty closely matched. That's changed. Now only 57 percent of Democrats saying they are paying a lot of attention. But the Republican figure has gone up, to 74 percent. Republicans are getting more motivated, possibly by the prospect that Gore could win. Democrats seem to be turned off. Remember, last week Gore was called a panderer over the oil issue, a truth-shader on drug prices, and a hypocrite on Hollywood. Not a good week. What about the gender gap? Well, it's still big. But a big gender gap doesn't necessarily pay off for the Democrat. Bush has a huge 20-point lead among men. Gore still leads among women, but his lead is smaller than it was. A week ago, Gore had a 24-point lead among women. Now it's 14 points. Which women are abandoning Gore? According to some polls, married women, they're voting for Bush. Could be the education issue is paying off for Bush among mothers. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
Election 2000: Gore's Lead Falters on Motivation