The Bush lead represents a five point improvement for the president, who was trailing Kerry in the same poll before Edwards joined his ticket.

That poll showed a hypothetical Kerry-Edwards ticket at 47 percent and Bush-Cheney at 44 percent.

In more bad news for the Kerry camp, the new AP poll showed that President Bush had regained the confidence of some voters on the economy and other domestic issues.

Typically, a vice presidential selection and the publicity that accompanies it gives a presidential ticket a significant boost. In 2000, Al Gore's decision to tap Sen Joe Liberman as his running mate gave the Democratic ticket a 15-point bounce.

Eight years earlier, presidential candidate Bill Clinton got a 19-point bounce with the addition of Gore to his ticket.

But with new poll by one of the liberal media's most respected news organizations now showing that the selection of Edwards may have actually hurt Kerry, Democrats have reason to be more concerned than ever about their prospects in November.

Editor's note: