The presidential election remains a dogfight after the first two of four scheduled debates.

With roughly a month left until voters take to the polls, both Republican and Democratic leaders see the race in Pennsylvania as a dead heat. According to The Associated Press, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry led President George W. Bush 47 to 41 percent in a telephone survey. The survey included 585 respondents and was conducted by West Chester University's Center for Social and Economic Research and Philadelphia-based public broadcasting company WHYY.

The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Representatives from both political camps said they feel confident in their candidate's ability to win both nationally and statewide. Before the first debate, Bush had a nationwide lead in many polls.

Polling since the first debate has shown that Kerry has gained on Bush's lead. The new poll numbers, however, are being interpreted differently by political rivals.

Don Morabito, Pennsylvania Democratic Party executive director, said Pennsylvania is a very politically competitive state and the polls have fluctuated recently. "The news was bad last month, and it is much better this month. It looks like we turned around and are coming back," Morabito said.

Following the Republican National Convention this summer, Kerry fell behind in the polls. After the debate, Kerry recovered ground yet Bush still leads in national polls.

Josh Wilson, Republican State Committee political director, said that despite Pennsylvania not supporting a Republican presidential candidate since 1988, he sees the state in a position to vote Republican. Wilson said the debates have drawn out the candidates' contrasting personality traits. "Electability and likability are important factors, and in this environment, with terrorism and foreign affairs being major issues, Bush scored well on both during the debate," Wilson said.

With Monday's voter registration deadline passed, political officials say the campaigns have taken a new direction.

Morabito said he was not sure if voters outside the solid Democratic voting block were sold on Kerry yet. "We have to do two things: we have to convince our base vote that every vote counts and they have to get out on Election Day, and we have to reach all of the undecided and sell them our candidate," Morabito said.

Megan Green, Penn State College Democrats president, said the group's focus has shifted.

"We have to switch to voter mobilization and make sure the people we registered will vote," Green said.

Andy Banducci, College Republicans chairman, agreed that the focus of the political campaigns has changed since Monday.

"With voter registration over with, we are now cheerleaders," he said.