, there is buyer 's remorse , '' he said . `` Based on that , and the fact that the country has been so polarized in recent elections , there 's pretty good reason to think that the polls might tighten up a little bit . '' Four years ago , a national CNN poll of polls released about a week before Election Day showed President Bush leading Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry by 3 points , 49 percent to 46 percent . The poll was released October 25 and reflected likely voters ' choice for president . Election Day was November 2 in 2004 . A national CNN poll of polls released November 1 showed Bush leading Kerry by 2 points , 48 percent to 46 percent . President Bush won by 3 percentage points , 51 percent to 48 percent . In 2000 , it was a bit of a different story . Election Day arrived November 7 that year . A CNN/USA Today/Gallup tracking poll conducted October 29 through October 31 showed Bush , then the Texas governor , leading Democratic Sen. Al Gore , 48 percent to 43 percent . The poll had a margin of
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- With a week to go before Election Day , most recent national polls show Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama with an advantage . But how much are they to be believed ? As Election Day gets closer , will the race tighten in the polls ? The most recent national CNN poll of polls showed Obama with an 8-point lead over Republican presidential nominee John McCain , 51 percent to 43 percent . The polls were conducted October 21 through October 26 . Most other national polls show Obama with a lead ranging between 5 points and double digits . A look at CNN polling during the same period before Election Day in 2000 and 2004 suggests that political observers and campaign supporters ought to be cautious in declaring the race over because of current polling numbers . See the latest state and national polls When a presidential race has a non-incumbent in the lead , like this year , the poll numbers tend to tighten as Election Day gets closer , CNN senior researcher Alan Silverleib said . `` Any time it looks like they are on the verge of voting somebody new into office