Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush leads his Democrat opponent John Kerry by 11 percentage points according to a poll conducted immediately after the Republican National Convention in New York, Newsweek magazine reported.

Bush is supported by 54 percent of the 1,008 registered voters surveyed Thursday and Friday, compared with 43 percent support for Kerry, a four-term Massachusetts senator. Independent candidate Ralph Nader polled 3 percent. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points, Newsweek said.

Bush, 58, accepted his party's nomination Thursday after convention speakers such as Senator John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said he's strong on national security and in fighting terrorists. Kerry, 60, said in a speech after the convention ended that ``it's time to move America in a new direction'' and that Bush's policies have failed.

Presidential candidates typically rise in the polls after their nominating conventions, said Nathaniel Persily, a professor of law and politics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

`Coherent Message'

Kerry led by 7 percentage points, up from a 3-point advantage, in a Newsweek poll after the Democratic convention in Boston in late July. In the Newsweek poll after the Republican convention, Bush gained 13 points on Kerry, the magazine said.

Republicans held a ``stronger, more notable convention with a coherent message both promoting the president and attacking Kerry,'' Persily said.

Bush's job-approval rating rose to 52 percent, a seven-point increase since a July 29-30 Newsweek poll and the first time it's been above 50 percent since January, the magazine said. A 53 percent majority said they want to see Bush re-elected, the highest since May of last year.

``Got a lot of work to do,'' Bush told reporters at an ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, when asked about the poll.

``We're doing good,'' Kerry said when asked how things are going. ``They're going to get a bounce out of the convention, but we'll be coming back,'' he said during a trap-shooting outing during a campaign trip to Ohio.

`Leadership Attributes'

A poll conducted by Time Magazine from Aug. 31-Sept. 2 also found an 11 point lead for Bush, 52 percent to 41 percent. Nader got 3 percent in the survey of 926 likely voters that has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said the Newsweek and Time polls show perceptions on the president's ``leadership attributes have improved'' after the convention. Bush is ``setting terms of the debate'' on terrorism and a safer America, Mehlman told reporters.

Sixty-five percent of voters in the Newsweek survey said Bush has strong leadership qualities, compared with 47 percent for Kerry.

The poll found voters ranked terrorism and the economy the two most important issues in the election and more Americans still think the country is going in the wrong direction, 49 percent, than believe otherwise.

``That says a lot,'' Kerry spokeswoman Allison Dobson said as Kerry campaigned in Akron, Ohio. ``If they think the country should go in a new direction, we're going to be making a hard case'' that they should vote for Kerry.

Bush's lead may last about a month until the presidential debates begin on Sept. 30, Persily said. ``The question is, what kind of lead will he have going into the debate?'' he said. ``And then the debates themselves will produce some kind of short-term fluctuations of public opinion.''

``This is an election that's going to be close and hard fought,'' Mehlman said. ``There are going to be ups and there are going to be downs.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 4, 2004 16:24 EDT