1. Tomorrow's debate is about domestic issues. Here is Kerry versus Bush in ten domestic issue areas polled by Gallup (issue data summary provided by Alan Abramowitz):

The environment: Kerry 60 percent, Bush 31 percent
Stem cell research: Kerry 53 percent, Bush 33 percent
Health care: Kerry 56 percent, Bush 37 percent
Medicare: Kerry 53 percent, Bush 38 percent
Federal budget deficit: Kerry 53 percent, Bush 40 percent
Social Security: Kerry 50 percent, Bush 41 percent
Education: Kerry 50 percent, Bush 43 percent
The economy: Kerry 49 percent, Bush 45 percent
Abortion: Kerry 46 percent, Bush 42 percent
Taxes: Kerry 44 percent, Bush 51 percent

Average of all ten domestic issues: Kerry 51.4 percent, Bush 40.1 percent

2. While the race is tied 48-48 in Gallup's 2-way RV matchup, Kerry leads by 5 in the battleground states and by 8 among independents.

3. The gender gap is alive and well. Kerry leads Bush by 9 among women and trails Bush by 9 among men.

4. While the party ID distribution seems more reasonable in this poll than in many recent Gallup polls, if you re-weight their 2-way RV data by the 2000 exit poll distribution, you actually get a 4 point Kerry lead, not the dead heat they report.

That result would tend to imply that the party ID distribution is about even in this poll. However, Steve Soto got Gallup to give him the party ID distribution for the RV sample in this poll and they reported a 36R/34D/29I distribution. Interesting. That distribution, based on their reported internals for the RV sample, would actually give Bush a 1 point lead among RVs, not the dead heat they report.

I can't explain this discrepancy, I merely report it. It's also a bit puzzling that Gallup reports a 4 point Republican party ID advantage in their LV sample--i.e., 2 points more Republican than they say their RV sample is--but that same LV sample yields a 2 point Kerry lead. In other words, the LV sample is 2 points more Republican yet produces a result that's 2 points more Democratic.

Go figure.