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The source of this article is USATODAY: http://tinyurl.com/43mqt Bush widens Wisconsin lead over Kerry, poll shows From staff and wire reports President Bush has widened his lead over Democrat John Kerry in the battleground state of Wisconsin, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows. (Related item: Poll results http://tinyurl.com/4wsmu) By Charles Dharapak, AP Wisconsin voted for Democrat Al Gore in 2000, albeit by one of the nation's narrowest margins. The Bush campaign this year has targeted it as the Democratic state most likely to turn Republican. The newest poll should hearten Republicans. President Bush holds a lead of 8 percentage points among likely voters and a lead of 4 points among the larger group of registered voters. The week before the Republican National Convention in New York City, Bush held a 3-percentage point lead over his challenger Kerry. Now, that lead has ballooned to 8 points. His edge is within the poll's margin of error. But the momentum in the state in Bush's direction — and the fact he has gotten over the 50% threshold — is troubling to Democrats. They figure Kerry probably must hold Wisconsin if he is to win the election. Bush received a boost in Wisconsin Monday, as first lady Laura Bush made a pitch to female voters in the state. In a message tailored to female voters, Bush ticked off a list of examples of how her husband's work on health care, education and national security has benefited women. She also noted her husband was the first president to dedicate federal funding to stem cell research, which was pioneered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She praised the "principled way" her husband limited federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to the 78 stem cell lines in existence on Aug. 9, 2001. Some religious groups oppose the research because days-old embryos are destroyed in the process, equating it with abortion. Proponents argue it could lead to diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's. Proponents and members of the medical community say more than 100 new cell lines have been created worldwide since Bush's decision to limit federal funding to those lines already in existence. Monday's visits came during a heavy period of campaigning by the presidential tickets in Wisconsin. Vice President Dick Cheney was in the state Friday, while Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry was expected to arrive Monday night for visits Tuesday and Wednesday. Laura Bush's stop was part of a three-state swing Monday through Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana. More than 1,100 people, most of them women, turned out to listen to her speak at a conference center in the Madison suburb of Middleton. Another 300 people waited outside. Fewer than a dozen protesters stood across the street from the hotel, one holding a sign that read: "W is for War on Women." Laura Bush explained how she believed her husband's policies and proposals impacted women. She talked about a woman she had met in Grafton, Wis., during an earlier campaign stop who had used the money she saved from the president's tax cuts to expand her business. She also told the crowd her husband's proposal to limit medical malpractice suits would benefit them by preventing good doctors from leaving their practices. To support her point, she talked about a woman she met in Arizona who had to find a new obstetrician while she was six months pregnant because her doctor quit due to the high cost of medical liability insurance. "Frivolous lawsuits raise the cost of health care insurance, and it drives good doctors out of practice," Bush said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn