Voters Want More Specifics From Kerry

At the same time, Kerry needs to show a more human face. "He needs to come down a little bit to be more of an everyday Joe," she said.

In virtually every measure tested, Kerry's image has eroded in recent weeks. He has lost his double-digit advantage as the candidate viewed by voters as more honest and more understanding of their problems. The president also is now seen by voters as the candidate who better reflects their values, and he has increased his advantage as better able to keep the country safe and secure. The proportion of voters who rate Kerry as "too liberal" has increased slightly, from 36 percent in June to 40 percent.

On issues, Kerry has also lost ground to Bush. By increasing margins, the president is seen as better able to deal with Iraq, the war on terrorism and taxes. On two key issues in which Kerry had an advantage as late as two weeks ago -- the economy and education -- the candidates are tied.

Four issues topped the agenda when voters were asked what they most wanted Kerry to talk about in his televised speech from the convention on Thursday: the economy and jobs (20 percent), Iraq (19 percent), terrorism (15 percent), and health care (13 percent).

"You pretty much know what Bush's philosophy is on everything he's doing," said Mike Miller, 57, of Russellville, Ark., who is "on the fence" but favoring Kerry. "I'd like to know about Kerry's philosophy on the economy: how he's going to get our national debt down. . . . Is the deficit even a concern of his?"

"One of the main things I would like to get out of the Kerry and Edwards campaign, especially this week, is a more specific outline of what their real plans are, especially for the war in Iraq," said Morgan Cason, 19, who attends college in Evansville, Ind.

Adam Chen, 45, an engineer living in San Diego is undecided but favoring Kerry. "I don't think the Republicans' policy of tax cuts is going to create more jobs. So Democrats, what are you going to do to create more jobs? They have to answer more questions there."

Tim French, 52, lives in La Plata, Md. He wants to hear Kerry talk about terrorism. "I would like to see Kerry make a definitive statement on what his administration would expect to do in terms of fighting terrorism in the United States. Borders, law enforcement, intelligence: What is he going to be doing that is not being done now?"

A total of 1,202 randomly selected adults were interviewed July 22-25 for the poll, including 974 self-described registered voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the overall results and fractionally larger for results based only on voters.

Senior polling analyst Christopher Muste contributed to this report.