July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry made the right choice when he picked North Carolina Senator John Edwards as his running mate, according to polls of voters conducted for CBS News and USA Today-Cable News Network.

Seventy percent of the 553 registered voters in a USA Today- CNN-Gallup poll conducted yesterday said they were either enthusiastic or satisfied with Kerry's decision. CBS found 72 percent of the 462 registered voters in its nationwide survey were either enthusiastic or satisfied by the choice.

The CBS poll found that the Kerry-Edwards ticket drew the support of 49 percent of voters, compared with 44 percent for President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, within the survey's margin of error. In a June 23-27 poll of the same voters, Kerry won 45 percent to Bush's 44 percent. A new NBC News poll of 504 registered voters found the Kerry-Edwards ticket has an edge of 49 percent to 41 percent.

Edwards, 51, provides ``a gain to the ticket,'' Merle Black, a politics professor at Atlanta's Emory University, said in an interview yesterday. ``This will be a very popular pick with Democrats in the south.''

The polls were conducted yesterday after Kerry, 60, a four- term Massachusetts senator, announced his pick of Edwards. All three have a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points and didn't distinguish between registered voters and those likely to go to the polls on Nov. 2. About a third of voters didn't cast a ballot in the 2000 presidential election.

`Glad' Voters

On a different question, 52 percent of voters in the CBS poll said they were ``glad'' Kerry chose Edwards. Eleven percent said they wished Kerry had picked someone else. That exceeds the 45 percent of voters who in 2000 said they were glad that Democrat Al Gore chose Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman to run with him and the 33 percent who in 1988 said the same of former President George H.W. Bush's pick of Dan Quayle.

In the USA Today-CNN poll, 64 percent said Kerry's choice reflects favorably on his ability to make presidential decisions and 24 percent said the pick reflects unfavorably.

In all the surveys, voters said Edwards's addition wouldn't have much of an effect on their White House ballot.

Affecting Votes

In the USA Today-CNN poll, 24 percent of respondents said they were more likely to vote for Kerry because he picked Edwards as his running mate and 7 percent said they were less likely to vote for Kerry. The NBC poll had the same findings. In both, more than 60 percent said the choice wouldn't affect their vote. In the CBS poll, 84 percent said Edwards's addition wouldn't make a difference.

To win the presidency, a candidate must gain majorities in enough states to collect at least 270 Electoral College votes, which are apportioned among states based on population. That tally, rather than the national vote totals reflected in polls, determines the election winner.

The USA Today-CNN poll found that 54 percent view Edwards favorably, while 16 percent have an unfavorable opinion. Twelve percent said they had never heard of Edwards; 18 percent had no opinion. In the CBS survey, 38 percent said they had a favorable opinion of Edwards; 9 percent said their opinion was unfavorable and the rest were undecided or said they hadn't heard enough.

NBC had released only part of its poll results on its Web site as of 2 p.m. Washington time.

`Bad Word'

Edwards is finishing his first six-year Senate term after two decades working as a trial lawyer. Jack Fleer, author of ``North Carolina Politics,'' said that Edwards will have to fight Bush campaign attacks focused on the bulk of his career.

``Trial lawyer is an 11-letter bad word here,'' said Fleer, who's also professor emeritus of political science at North Carolina's Wake Forest University. When running for Senate in 1998, ``Edwards was able to turn that charge around and say, 'I am proud to have represented families against big HMOs and companies. I am an advocate for people without a voice.'''

According to the USA Today-CNN poll, more people currently consider Edwards's experience as a trial lawyer to be a strength than a weakness. Two-thirds of those surveyed said it was either a major or a minor strength, while 27 percent said it was either a major or a minor weakness. Six percent had no opinion.

Edwards faces more skepticism on the question of his short tenure in national politics, according to the same poll. Asked by pollsters about his ``limited political experience,'' 55 percent said that was either a minor or a major weakness and 40 percent said it was a major or minor strength.

Presidential Possibility

Even so, 57 percent said they thought Edwards was qualified to serve as president if it became necessary; 29 percent said they didn't think he was ready and 14 percent had no opinion.

In the CBS survey, 50 percent said they thought Edwards had the right experience to be ``a good vice president,'' and 21 percent said he didn't. Asked whether he has enough experience to be a good president, just 37 percent said yes; 41 percent said no. The rest didn't know or didn't answer.

The CBS poll also found that 27 percent had a favorable view of Cheney and 47 percent had an unfavorable view. In the USA Today-CNN survey, 43 percent of voters had a favorable view of Cheney and 44 percent said they had an unfavorable view.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington at kjensen@Bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 7, 2004 14:14 EDT