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WASHINGTON -- Vice President Gore got a strong bounce from last week's Democratic convention, returning the presidential race to a neck-and-neck contest with Republican George W. Bush, a USA TODAY/ CNN/Gallup Poll found.

The poll of likely voters, taken Friday and Saturday after the Democratic National Convention, showed Gore pulling 1 percentage point ahead of Bush, 47%-46%. He went into his convention down 16 percentage points.

Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan had 2%, and Green Party hopeful Ralph Nader had 3%.

Gore's 1-point lead among the poll's 697 likely voters is within the +/- 5-point error margin, suggesting a hard-fought race to come.

"Historically, convention bounces don't last. I start paying attention to the polls after Labor Day," says Harry O'Neill of Roper Starch Worldwide, who was a pollster for GOP candidates Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon.

Bush held a slight edge over Gore, 45%-43%, before the GOP and Democratic conventions.

Gore went into his speech needing to make voters feel more comfortable with him as a person and a leader. He appeared to succeed.

The poll showed big gains by Gore in groups critical to a Democratic victory. Among independents, he went from a 52%-33% deficit to an even 43%-43%. Among women, he went from 9 points down to a 22-point lead over Bush, 58%-36%.