The intensity of support appeared to favor the mayor, too: Fifty-seven percent of likely Bloomberg supporters said they strongly favored their candidate, compared with 34percentt of likely Ferrer voters.
But such polls can be misleading because they cannot measure the intensity of support.
Democrats also initially underestimated the intensity of support for some gun-control initiatives on their own side.
Mr. Barr's polling makes the race a dead heat, and he is counting on intensity of support, because of the causes he champions, to win.
The intensity of support for Freeman proved too much for her French rival, Marie-José Pérec, who fled feeling threatened before the race began.
He does not enjoy the intensity of support directed at Sarah Palin, nor does he generate the passion of her detractors.
The intensity of support for him is a few points higher than it is for Mr Kerry.
And the intensity of support for Mr. Obama was high, with nearly nine out of 10 black voters saying they "strongly favored" him.
"The main thing," David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's senior adviser, said, "is to involve as many people as possible and demonstrate in a variety of ways the level and degree of intensity of support that this has".
The ABC News/Post poll gauged intensity of support and found that Democrats were more set in their candidate choices than were Republicans, but that within the last month voters were firming up their decisions.
A wonderful adventure ended in Guadalajara, and the reality check only Brazil can supply, but the journey was memorable for the unity of the squad and the intensity of support.
