(CNSNews.com) - Sen. John F. Kerry holds a three-point lead over President George W. Bush in the latest Zogby opinion poll, but that three-point lead is within the poll's overall 3.1-point margin of error.

The Zogby poll, released April 19, gives Democrat Kerry 47 percent support, compared with 44 percent for President Bush. That's about the same as an April 1-4 Zogby poll, which gave Kerry 47 percent to Bush's 45 percent.

When Independent candidate Ralph Nader is added into the mix, Kerry and Bush were statistically tied in the latest poll, with 44.7 percent for Bush, 45.3 percent for Kerry and 3 percent for Nader.

Other poll findings:

-- Nearly half of voters (49.2 percent) said the U.S. is on the wrong track, compared with 44 percent who said the U.S. is heading in the right direction.

-- Kerry leads Bush among African-Americans and Asians, while Bush leads Kerry among whites and Hispanics.

-- Forty-nine percent of men support Bush over Kerry, while 50 percent of women support Kerry over Bush.

-- If the U.S. suffered another major terrorist attack, 50 percent of voters (down from 52 percent last month) said they would prefer to be led by President Bush rather than John Kerry.

-- Asked to identify the top issues facing the country, 30 percent of voters picked jobs and the economy; 21 percent picked Iraq; 18 percent said the war on terrorism; 7 percent said health care; and 5 percent said education.

According to pollster John Zogby, John Kerry's margin over President Bush among independents should be cause for concern in Bush campaign circles - especially after the Bush campaign's "advertising blitz."

However, Zogby noted, Bush leads among Catholics, which could be troubling for Kerry in key battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio.

And, Zogby added, if President Bush actually scores as well among Hispanics as he does in this poll, then Florida and New Mexico could be safely in his camp.

"Bush is still favored as the president who can handle terrorism best," Zogby noted. "There has been no change in that perception. Kerry will have to chip away at that Bush strength," he said in a press release.

But Zogby also noted that Kerry draws strong support from voters who say the U.S. is on the wrong track, and Kerry leads among both moderates and independents.

The telephone poll of 1,049 likely voters was conducted Thursday through Saturday, April 15-17, 2004.