THE US Republican candidate, Mr Bob Dole, lost two top consultants yesterday in a new blow to his struggling campaign as new polls suggested President Clinton could be heading for an election triumph.
Mr Don Sipple and Mr Mike Murphy, the two men charged with creating Mr Dole's crucial political advertisements, quit in what appeared to be an internal power struggle with campaign manager, Mr Scott Reed.
"A strategic decision was made to bring the ad group . . . more directly into the overall campaign structure under Scott Reed," a campaign spokesman, Mr Nelson Warfield said.
Mr Warfield tried to put the best face on the shakeup, describing it as a "move forward in the creative process". But it suggested a campaign in some disarray.
A new Reuters poll conducted by John Zogby Group International found Mr Clinton leading by 15 percentage points among likely voters after receiving a double boost, first from last week's Democratic convention and then from his decision to order air strikes against Iraq.
A new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll showed a similar a with just two months to go to election day on November 5th.