Sunday, October 31, 2004

The Top Ten Worst Media Distortions of Campaign 2004



Click here for Amazon!From the Media Research Center comes this interesting list. It won't take a lot of mental gymnastics to guess who's #1. Read the whole thing.

#10 Equating New Terrorism Warning to LBJ’s "Gulf of Tonkin"
#9 Misrepresenting the 9/11 Commission on Iraq/al-Qaeda Links
#8 CBS Promotes Fears of a New Military Draft
#7 CBS’s Byron Pitts Promotional Kerry Coverage
#6 Swooning Over Edwards’ Image, Ignoring His Liberalism
#5 The Networks' Outrageous Convention Double-Standard
#4 Spinning a Good Economy into Bad News
#3 Pounding the Bush National Guard Story
#2 Ignoring, then attacking, the Swiftboat Veterans
#1 Dan Rather's Forgery Fiasco

The Top Ten Worst Media Distortions of Campaign 2004

Saturday, October 30, 2004

FLASH



PoliPundit reports the following:

The internals of the Washington Post/ABC News Poll - I have just learned the following about this poll:

President Bush is only .2 from the 50% mark in the poll.

Undecided voters favor the President 47%-36%.

Among union voters, Kerry’s support is less than the Democratic candidate’s support in 2000. This bodes very well for the President in the Midwest and Pennsylvania.

It's time for a long look in the mirror



Click here for Amazon!...Does [the UBL tape really] sound any different from the arguments in Fahrenheit 9/11?

I could be proven wrong, but I now have drastically revised my prediction of what's going to happen on election night. A Bush landslide is now exponentially more likely, as every voter walks into the voting booth with the topic of terrorism on his or her mind. It's far and away Bush's strongest issue.

There are times when America wants the eloquent, nuanced multilateral, French-speaking, consensus-building, flexible and cautious negotiator. And then there are times when the country wants the plain-spoken butt-kicking aggressive unilateralist cowboy. Guess which time this is?

...There was an old saying about politics stopping at the water’s edge. There was a reason for this, and for the concept of the “loyal opposition.”... No party wants to be seen as putting foreign interests ahead of their own citizens’ interests, so they have to be on guard that their arguments aren’t providing fodder for foreign powers with different interests than America.

Over the last three years or so, we have seen that concept obliterated. We’ve seen a truly unparalleled deluge of criticism of the president that well beyond policy differences... This rhetoric has been picked up by the British left, the European left, the Arab press, and anti-American interests around the globe. And — to my knowledge — not one Democrat, not one voice on the left has said, “Hey, we know you hate Bush, but stay out of it. He’s our president, leave the criticism of him to us.”

...this tape should cause many on the left to stare into the mirror for a long time and ask, “What have I turned into? How did I become so reflexively partisan, so blinded by rage, so intemperate in my rhetoric that my own arguments are being echoed by a man who planned and enjoyed the mass murder of Americans?”

“How the hell did I reach the point where I agree with Osama bin Laden on Bush?” ...


National Review: IT'S TIME FOR A LONG LOOK IN THE MIRROR

[UPDATE]: Compare and contrast - Kerry and Bin Laden Talking Points

Congressman Tancredo's visit to Beslan



Click here for Amazon!Did you know that Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) recently visited Beslan to deliver messages of support from his constituents (Columbine High School included)? Probably not, as the story was completely ignored by the mainstream media. His blog is heart-rending and describes exactly what we can expect from Islamic Extremists in this country: attacks on the innocent, even schoolchildren, anywhere, anytime. Even in a rural community in the middle of nowhere. Like Beslan.

...Sunday Afternoon – Hospital Visit in Moscow

Today was hard, tomorrow will be harder. Today we visited two hospitals in Moscow where many of the survivors were being treated after being triaged out of Beslan. Room after room is filled with children with their broken bodies and damaged minds. In every room there is a parent, aunt, brother or grandma keeping watch - waiting for the wounds to heal.

In every room there is a story of heartbreak. In the first visit we meet a 16 year old boy who lies in very serious condition. This young man had the courage to grab the gun of a terrorist who had been shot and proceeded to kill another terrorist who was shooting at fleeing children. He then placed his body over a small girl for protection from the onslaught of bullets and shrapnel meant for her.

In the next room, two sisters ages 8 and 10 lay in good spirits… It’s the 8 year olds birthday today, and my wife sings happy birthday to her in Russian. The little girl smiled, and lit up the room. Her aunt was sitting in the back of the room, and began to cry. I wish I could say the woman’s tears were for joy from the little girls smile. However they were tears because she knew of the pain yet awaiting both girls. They had lost both parents in the tragedy, but did not know it yet.

It became more difficult as we made the move from room to room to hear the stories of these children’s bravery, and got to know these survivors and their families personally. We met the mother of a 12 year old girl who lies quietly as she unfolded a piece of gauze to show the ball bearing that the doctors took out of her daughters’ lung. Apparently the terrorists had packed the bombs with ball bearings to add to the shrapnel’s effect...


Congressman Tom Tancredo: Visit to Beslan

The 'Nuisance' is Back



Click here for Amazon!It's always interesting when a New York Times op-ed not authored by Bill Safire pounds Kerry for his shifting opportunism. David Brooks groks what's really happening in the candidate's mind when it comes to the UBL tape.

It's quite clear from the polls that most Americans fundamentally think Bush does get this. Last March, Americans preferred Bush over Kerry in fighting terrorism by 60 percent to 33 percent, according to the Gallup Poll. Now, after a furious campaign and months of criticism, that number is unchanged. Bush is untouched on this issue.

Bush's response yesterday to the video was exactly right. He said we would not be intimidated. He tried to take the video out of the realm of crass politics by mentioning Kerry by name and assuring the country that he was sure Kerry agreed with him.

Kerry did say that we are all united in the fight against bin Laden, but he just couldn't help himself. His first instinct was to get political.

On Milwaukee television, he used the video as an occasion to attack the president...

...Even in this shocking moment, this echo of Sept. 11, Kerry saw his political opportunities and he took 'em. There's such a thing as being so nakedly ambitious that you offend the people you hope to impress.

But politics has shaped Kerry's approach to this whole issue.


The Nuisance is Back

UPDATE!: The Belmont Club believes that UBL is offering terms of surrender:

...It is important to notice what he has stopped saying in this speech. He has stopped talking about the restoration of the Global Caliphate. There is no more mention of the return of Andalusia. There is no more anticipation that Islam will sweep the world. He is no longer boasting that Americans run at the slightest wounds; that they are more cowardly than the Russians. He is not talking about future operations to swathe the world in fire but dwelling on past glories. He is basically saying if you leave us alone we will leave you alone. Though it is couched in his customary orbicular phraseology he is basically asking for time out.

The American answer to Osama's proposal will be given on Election Day. One response is to agree that the United States of America will henceforth act like Sweden, which is on track to become majority Islamic sometime after the middle of this century. The electorate best knows which candidate will serve this end; which candidate most promises to be European-like in attitude and they can choose that path with both eyes open. The electorate can strike that bargain and Osama may keep his word. The other course is to reject Osama's terms utterly; to recognize the pleading in his outwardly belligerent manner and reply that his fugitive existence; the loss of his sanctuaries; the annihilation of his men are but the merest foretaste of what is yet to come: to say that to enemies such as he, the initials 'US' will always mean Unconditional Surrender.

Osama has stated his terms. He awaits America's answer.


UBL's surrender proposal

U.S. Team Took 250 Tons of Munitions from Al-Qaqaa



Click here for Amazon!Once again, I'm shocked... SHOCKED... that the mainstream media hasn't effectively covered the latest information from the Pentago regarding the "missing" explosives.

A U.S. Army officer came forward Friday to say a team from the 3rd Infantry Division took about 250 tons of munitions and other material from the Al-Qaqaa arms-storage facility soon after Saddam Hussein's regime fell in April 2003.

Maj. Austin Pearson said at a Pentagon news conference that he was tasked in the days after the fall of the Iraqi regime with a mission to secure and destroy ammunition and explosives. He led a 25-man team called Task Force Bullet...


U.S. Team Took 250 Tons of Iraqi Munitions

Quote of the Day



"I didn't really want to get involved in the war. When I signed up for the Swift Boats they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patroling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing." John Kerry, Boston Globe, 1986

Friday, October 29, 2004

FLASH



Click here for AmazonKerrySpot reports the following interesting news, reportedly from a senior-level campaign insider:

FROM A SOURCE CLOSE TO THE CAMPAIGN [10/28 02:07 PM]

Just heard from a source close to the campaign, tuned in to the conversations at the highest levels.

According to the Bushies, the last few days have seen a huge burst of momentum in their numbers.

They think Bush is ahead by a few points nationally. They expect the next round of tracking polls to show a bit of a bump.

The internal polls show a significant lead in Florida (outside margin of error) and Arkansas is out of play, with a Bill Clinton visit or without. As for most of the other big ones - Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, internal polls show all too close to call.

Michigan is seriously looking like a pickup - Bush and Cheney could be there four times in the last four days.

An exit poll of those who have already voted show Bush ahead by 15 points! [UPDATE: This is ahead 15 points overall, nationwide, not just in Michigan. Obviously, those who have already voted are only a small, small segment of the electorate at large, so one should not read too much into this number. But it is interesting.]

Undecided voters appear to be breaking Bush’s way - some days he has a slight lead, other days it’s right around 50-50. (Note this would be considerably better than the 1/3 calculated that Bush needs here.

Finally, the ammo dump story appears to have left the Kerry campaign deep in al-Qaqaa.

Tommy Franks is going to enter this story and rip Kerry and the New York Times a new one. The Kerry folks are acting like they realized they have botched this story, and want to shift back to domestic topics. Lockhart, Bill Richardson on Imus — when asked about al-QaQaa, they dodge the question and quickly try to bring up other issues.

The campaign is going to avoid the Russian angle and go with the straightforward, “As the facts mount in this story, American people have a choice between believing Kerry-NYTimes-CBS or believing Bush and the Troops.”

This source close to the campaign didn’t say it, but I wonder if the Bush administration wants to deal with Russia in its own manner, and not have whatever diplomatic confrontations are going on behind the scenes complicated by a furious American electorate blaming Russia for hiding Iraq’s weapons and explosives.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Kerry attacking the Military... again



Click here for AmazonJohn Kerry now closes his presidential campaign exactly as he opened his political life: Attacking the United States military.

Thirty-three years ago, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he indicted the soldiers of Vietnam as war criminals, the heirs of Genghis Khan.

This week he embraced an already discredited account of missing munitions to attack the reputation of the 3rd Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne. Make no mistake, that is exactly what Kerry is doing when he asserts that deadly weapons went unsecured and unreported as these two divisions rushed to liberate Baghdad. And not just these divisions, but every officer and soldier who had a hand in drawing up the war plan...

...That the story was floated by a Bush foe in the U.N. bureaucracy at the IAEA did not discourage Kerry. Nor did the evident pretzel logic of condemning the war while bemoaning the huge danger of Saddam's arsenal. The facts on the myth of the missing munitions are available at The Belmont Club and Instapundit, but facts did not matter to Kerry at all, nor the reputations of the soldiers he charged with allowing massive amounts of deadly munitions to go missing...

...Bush has set up the campaign to be a referendum on his response to the attacks of September 11 and his conduct of the global war on terror. It is ending exactly where it should, as a vote of confidence on him and the military he leads.

With five days left, Americans would do well to recall Winston Churchill's critique of Cordell Hull's fatigue in a late night planning session in the early stages of World War II. Hull began to excuse himself and head for bed, citing the lateness of the hour. Churchill bellowed his dismay: "Why, man, we are at war!"

Indeed. Vote accordingly.


Hugh Hewitt: Commander-in-Chief

African-Americans abandoning Kerry



Click here for AmazonAnything but strong turnout and overwhelming African-American support for Kerry could doom his chances. In 2000, record black turnout in Florida helped turn Florida into a virtual tie that took Republicans by surprise. This year, the mobilization effort is far greater, with a major focus on getting people to vote early.

But for all the anecdotal evidence of heavy African-American turnout, there are hints that Kerry might not be doing as strongly as he needs to be. At a John Edwards rally in St. Petersburg on Saturday, white people held "African-Americans for Kerry-Edwards" placards.

A St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald poll released Sunday showed Bush more than doubling his support from black voters since 2000, with 19 percent support...


St. Petersburg Times: Clarion Call

Link o' the Day



Jeff Jacoby: John Kerry: Preacher-man

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Some keepers: collection of Kerry "endorsements"



Click here for AmazonJames Taranto has collected some... uhmmm... interesting Kerry endorsements (hat tip: PoliPundit):

“I know few people enthused about John Kerry. His record is undistinguished, and where it stands out, mainly regrettable. He intuitively believes that if a problem exists, it is the government’s job to fix it. He has far too much faith in international institutions, like the corrupt and feckless United Nations, in the tasks of global management. He got the Cold War wrong. He got the first Gulf War wrong. His campaign’s constant and excruciating repositioning on the war against Saddam have been disconcerting, to say the least. I completely understand those who look at this man’s record and deduce that he is simply unfit to fight a war for our survival. They have an important point–about what we know historically of his character and his judgment when this country has faced dire enemies. His scars from the Vietnam War lasted too long and have gone too deep to believe that he has clearly overcome the syndrome that fears American power rather than understands how to wield it for good."–Andrew Sullivan, endorsing John Kerry, The New Republic, Oct. 26

“I can’t remember ever voting for anybody I disliked as much as I do John Kerry, at least not for president, but vote for him I will. I didn’t have much use for Al Gore either, but I don’t remember any real sense of hostility before punching the hole next to his name. . . . I can’t persuade anybody to vote for a candidate for whom I can muster so little enthusiasm, but there must be an awful lot of people out there who are going to cast votes next week for Kerry who are, like me, discouraged by the prospect and needing one of those you-are-not-alone talks."–Mark Brown, endorsing John Kerry, Chicago Sun-Times, Oct. 27

“I remain totally unimpressed by John Kerry. Outside of his opposition to the death penalty, I’ve never seen him demonstrate any real political courage. His baby steps in the direction of reform liberalism during the 1990s were all followed by hasty retreats. His Senate vote against the 1991 Gulf War demonstrates an instinctive aversion to the use of American force, even when it’s clearly justified. Kerry’s major policy proposals in this campaign range from implausible to ill-conceived. He has no real idea what to do differently in Iraq. His health-care plan costs too much to be practical and conflicts with his commitment to reducing the deficit. At a personal level, he strikes me as the kind of windbag that can only emerge when a naturally pompous and self-regarding person marinates for two decades inside the U.S. Senate. If elected, Kerry would probably be a mediocre, unloved president on the order of Jimmy Carter."–Jacob Weisberg, endorsing John Kerry, Slate, Oct. 26


And these are the Kerry endorsements. Wow.

Kerry Endorsements

Why active military favors President Bush 3-to-1, part 72



Click here for AmazonFormer New York City Police Commission Bernard Kerik --Police Commissioner on 9/11-- spent four months in Iraq after the fall of Baghdad. I interviewed him on the myth of the missing munitions today:

HH: "Have you been following this story?"

BK: "I have."

HH: "What's your reaction to this?"

BK: "I think it is a lot of the same that's been going on over the last month or so, some of the scare tactics, you know --social security, the draft, the personal attacks on Mary Cheney, on Laura Bush. I think this is a campaign where John Kerry is desperate. I think he is looking to say anything that will get him a vote, and he jumped right on these headlines yesterday by the New York Times, that there were 380 tons of weapons, of explosives missing, without realizing the facts You know...Keep in mind, and I know this broke last night, and it really hasn't got as much play as the Times' article yesterday, NBC had embedded reporters in with the 101rst airborne when they went into that camp the day after the fall of Baghdad.

The weapons were not there. John Kerry has been saying for the last year --depending on what day you talk to him-- he's been saying there were no weapons, Saddam was not a threat.

OK, well, yesterday he's screaming and yelling that Saddam was a threat with the weapons that are missing. Bottom line: There aren't any weapons or munitions missing that we didn't secure.

What John Kerry doesn't know or doesn't understand is that we seized more than 280,000 tons that were detonated already. We seized another 160,000 tons that are pending detonation. You know, Hugh, every day that I was in Iraq, every single day, for the four months I was there, every aftrenoon at 12 o'clock in the afternoon, there were massive explosions out by the international airport. It was the U.S. military blowing this stuff up. People have to realize that all of Iraq was a weapons cache. The whole country was saturated with explosives. And this is what President Bush meant when he talked about the threat. This was a part of that threat. We have been addressing the issue since we got there. The problem is that John Kerry just doesn't have a clue."

The other problem that Commissioner Keric didn't mention is that John Kerry instinctively trusts the U.N. bureaucracy at the I.A.E.A. to do its job better than the 101rst Airborne. No wonder the troops that are either serving in Iraq or have served there prefer George Bush by a three to one margin over John Kerry.


Hugh Hewitt: John Kerry trusts UN bureaucrats more than the 101st Airborne

I'm shocked... SHOCKED...



Click here for AmazonEditor & Publisher Magazine reports:

A new study for the non-partisan Project for Excellence in Journalism suggests that in the first two weeks of October, during the period of the presidential debates, George W. Bush received much more unfavorable coverage from some media than Sen. John Kerry.

In the limited sample (which included four newspapers, two cable news programs and seven shows on broadcast networks), more than half of all Bush stories were negative in tone, during this period. One-quarter of all Kerry stories were negative, according to the study.


New Study Suggests Some Media Favored Kerry in First Two Weeks of October

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Viet Cong approved of Kerry's behavior



Click here for AmazonThomas Lipscomb reports for the New York Sun on the discovery of Viet Cong documents that show the VC had its eye on the young John Kerry, and not because he was second to no man in hunting them down. The documents, first archived in 1971, show that the Communists at the least followed Kerry's antiwar activities with approval and encouragement...

...Does this mean that Kerry accepted marching orders from the Viet Cong in 1971? No, or at least the documents discovered so far don't reach that conclusion explicitly. It does show, at the least, that John Kerry was a dupe of the VC/Hanoi Communists of the first order. The best one can conclude from the record is that the VC used Kerry as a pawn to undermine American resolve to fight the war, which allowed them to push the US out of Southeast Asia and eventually resulted in a Communist bloodbath in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Kerry told us last week that he would go after terrorists with the same enthusiasm that he went after the Viet Cong. The only conclusion that one can draw from the historical record is that John Kerry will chase them to Paris to negotiate our surrender on their terms.


Viet Cong approved of Kerry's behavior

Reality or 'politics of fear'? Depends on who says it.



Click here for AmazonDick Cheney came under fire last week from the Left for his reference to the greatest threat confronting the United States: an extremist group getting their hands on a nuclear weapon and detonating it in one of our cities. Of course, I don't see any similar comments from the Left regarding Clinton SecDef William Cohen's remarks:

..."The greatest nightmare we have to go on is a nuclear bomb going off in one of our major cities," Cohen told the gathering of federal and private-sector information technology executives.

It is a "brave new world where terrorism and technology are merged," he added...


Reality or 'politics of fear'? Depends on who says it.

Monday, October 25, 2004

WaPo's Broder on the Candidates



Click here for AmazonHmmm. It could mean trouble when the Washington Post's David Broder, a moderate liberal, says the following about Kerry:

...[We] know much... about [Kerry's] liabilities: a tendency to overstudy issues, procrastinate and avoid hard choices; a willingness to be swayed by conflicting advice; an awkwardness in dealing with colleagues and staff; and a frequent impression that decisions are being guided by opportunism rather than firm beliefs... a man whose habits of mind and of action are far removed from the challenges of the White House...


To be fair, he's not praising Bush much either.

WaPo's Broder on the Candidates

Suddenly, Michigan is in play



Click here for AmazonTwo weeks ago, Democratic operatives began telling reporters that Michigan was in the bag.

They were wrong. Last Thursday, a poll in the Detroit News put President Bush ahead in Michigan by 4 points. A Knight-Ridder survey showed the race is a virtual tie.

This came as a shock to the Kerry camp, which has concentrated its efforts on other Big Ten industrial states. Kerry could win both Ohio and Pennsylvania and still lose the election. If he loses Michigan.

There are signs that Democrats are belatedly figuring this out. Last Sunday, Al Sharpton was dispatched to Detroit on an urgent mission to the city's churches...

...Kerry does have the official support of one group. The Arab-American Political Action Committee, located in Dearborn, has endorsed him. How much this will help the Democrats is an open question. Michigan's large Arab-American community runs the gamut from pro-Hezbollah radicals to conservative Christian Lebanese and includes many Chaldeans - Iraqi Christians - who are very grateful to Bush for bringing down Saddam Hussein.


Suddenly, Michigan is in play

Links o' the Day



Preacher Ted [Kennedy]

Full-page ad in the Washington Post from a private citizen

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Taking on water



Click here for AmazonIn early 2004, John Kerry was positioned to capture the Democratic nomination. The junior senator from Massachusetts had enjoyed a long career in Congress, albeit without sponsoring noteworthy legislation or serving on key committees with distinction. That said, Kerry's long record of public service spelled stability to many in the Democratic Party. And his Vietnam war service didn't seem to hurt, given the hardware with which he returned, including a silver star, a bronze star and three purple hearts.

In the spring, as the hierarchy of Democratic candidates began to shake out, Kerry's centrist positions gained momentum. Sown from a late-nineties trend towards hawkish-ness consistent with President Clinton's willingness to commit troops to far-flung locations -- Kerry appealed to the centrists of the party: a long-time dove turned hawk, just in time to confront the threat of global terrorism and WMD's in the possession of rogue states.

But onto the stage, from literally out of nowhere (Montpelier?), stepped Howard Dean: a true leader among the Left Bank of American politics. The former Governor of Vermont had, though force of will and an Internet-savvy cadre of backers, mobilized the hard Left of the party in a way not seen for decades. His primary message, an absolutist philosophy that rejected the Iraq war -- and perhaps any war at all -- resonated with his zealots. Dean disputed the notion that Iraq was connected to the global war on terror.

Kerry, who had beaten the drums of war while tensions escalated with Saddam Hussein, was now confronted with a monumental decision. A carefully cultivated hawkish stance now stood at odds with Howard Dean's unnerving momentum. A change was needed: the nomination hung in the balance.

In retrospect, Kerry did exactly what he had to do in order to regain his lost momentum. He veered left on the critical issue of the war, swerving back in front of the governor and recapturing the doves who required better credentials than Dean could muster. It was a savvy move by Kerry's team and one that also turned out to be the single most catastrophic mistake of the campaign.

Veering away from the center, in hindsight, is an egregious error for either party during the general election. The centrists of both parties, reminded of the devastating attacks of September 11th each time they see the Manhatten skyline, are committed to waging and winning the war on terror. Little sympathy can be mustered by most Americans for Iraq's government, whose affiliation with -- or outright sponsorship of -- the murderous posse of Abu Abbas, Abu Nidal, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Ansar al-Islam, Hamas and Hezbollah resulted in the murder of Americans and others throughout the world

A "perfect storm" has indeed swamped the Democratic party. Population shifts, a successful faith-based appeal to minority voters by the GOP, along with the hijacking of the party by the Michael Moore-led Deaniacs, have all conspired to leave John Kerry -- and the entire party -- foundering. Only a return to the center can successfully inspire mainstream America to hitch their wagon to the Donkey. It may happen next year, or ten years from now, but it is inevitable if the Democratic party hopes to slow the momentum of the Grand Old Party.

Friday, October 22, 2004

Sacrificing Israel



Click here for AmazonTroubling storm clouds are gathering on the horizon, as Israel puts all options on the table vis a vis Iran's nuclear capability. As well they should, given Iran's promise to nuke Israel into rubble. The latest analyis indicates that Israel may have Iran in its gun-sites.

The future of Israel, in fact, might be in doubt regardless if John Kerry is elected president. Charles Krauthammer reads between the lines when John Kerry promises to "rebuild our alliances". That really means one thing, in his opinion, and he has a good case: it means
sacrificing Israel.

Election 2004: Perfect Storm



Click here for AmazonGerry Daly of dalythoughts.com crunched some Harris Poll numbers to see what it would take for John Kerry to overtake President Bush due entirely to increased turnout. He found that Kerry will need 9.6 million new voters. And he doesn't mean new voters between the ages of 18-21 who've never been able to vote for president before. He means "nearly 10 million people, aged 22 and over, who did not vote in 2000 but are going to this year."

"Maybe," Daly writes, "there is such antipathy towards George W. Bush that will bring voters out even more than the candidacy of Ross Perot did [in 1992]. We'll know in less than two weeks. If there are, then the Harris poll suggests that Kerry is in the ballpark. If these votes do not materialize, the Harris poll suggests that it will be a short night a week from Tuesday."

... The Horserace Blog, meanwhile, uses a poll by the Center for Policy and Economic studies to look at the black vote: "According to this poll, Kerry is underperforming among blacks by roughly 14 percent of the vote, a statistically significant difference. What would that mean if these numbers hold for the next month?"

The answer: "If there were a perfect replay of Florida, Kerry's total would shrink by 122,312 votes. If there were a perfect replay of Ohio, Kerry's total would shrink by 62,207 votes (making Nader's absence on the ballot this year wholly irrelevant). If there were a perfect replay of Michigan, Kerry's total would shrink by 56,542 votes. If there were a perfect replay of the national vote, Kerry's total would shrink by 1,459,966. In other words, Bush would win the popular vote by about 1 million votes! John Kerry simply cannot win this election if he performs among blacks 14 percent worse than Gore did."


John Podhoretz: Perfect Storm

Democrats have all but given up on the South



Click here for AmazonWhen John Kerry arrives in Reno today for his sixth visit to Nevada this year, he will underscore a dramatic shift in the geography of the race for the White House.

Kerry, in a virtually unprecedented move for a Democrat, is relying more on the West than the South in his plan to reach the 270 electoral votes needed for victory.

Once the party of the "Solid South," Democrats this year are not actively contesting any state in the region except Florida in the presidential campaign...


LA Times: Democrats have all but given up on the South, an unprecedented move

Bush Scaring Seniors Again



Click here for AmazonMy frail, 94-year old grandmother was rudely awakened at about one o'clock this morning by a very frightening phone call.

"HOWDY!" the loud voice said in a thick Texas drawl. "I'm George Bush! I just wanted to call to let ya'll know that when I'm re-elected, the first thing I'm gonna do is take away your social security. All you old geezers will be out on the street with the rest of the gutter trash!"

"Bull***t," Gramma shot back.

"No, bull***t, ma'am. No siree," Bush responded. "This is George Dumbya Shrub, the pee-Resident select, and I'm going to cut off your medicare, raise the prices on your prescription drugs, kill your poodle and burn your house down. Yeee-haaaaaaaw!"

"I'm hanging up," Gramma warned him.

After a brief pause, the caller changed tactics.

"Paralysis got you down?" he asked. "Vote for John Kerry, and you'll get up out of that wheelchair and walk again."

"I'm not in a wheelchair!" Gramma replied.

"Alzheimers, eh? Too bad Dumbya banned stem cell research, or your brain wouldn't slowly be turning into goo as we speak."

"Oh Jeezus!" Gramma groaned.

"Ah, an Evangelical, are ya? Did you know that Dick Cheney's daughter is a lesbian?"

"You're making me sick."

"Well, Gramma, you better hope it's not the flu, 'cause Bush is withhol-"

"Lawrence, is that YOU?" Gramma growled, cutting him off in midsentence. "You little sh*t! How'd you get my number?"

"Err...ummm..BUSH STOLE THE ELECTION!" the mysterious, yet enlightened caller stammered. "WHERE'S OSAMA, YOU CRAZY OL' BAT?"

*click!*

Alas, look at what it's come to. Bush has polarized this nation to such a degree that reich-wing grandparents are rudely hanging up on their own grandchildren, and getting unlisted phone numbers so you have to hire a private investigator to track them down. Some grandparents are even changing all the locks on the doors, and getting big guard dogs to keep friends and family from pulling out their Bush/Cheney yard signs and tp'ing their trees.

All this thanks to a man who promised to be a uniter, not a divider.


Bush Scaring Seniors Again

Pithy Line o' the Day



Hugh Hewitt: "How do you ask a goose to be the last goose to die for a campaign stunt? How do you ask a goose to die for a photo op?"

Flash Animation o' the Day



Florida Presidential Election Voting Simulator

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Bloody Iraq



Click here for AmazonIf you know anyone who isn't convinced that the War in Iraq is part and parcel of the war on terror, send them here. Of course, John Kerry thinks Iraq is a "profound diversion" from the war on terror. Personally, I think he knows better but, with him, it's all about political expediency. Review the facts and then let me know.

Nelson Ascher: Why I won't vote for Bush



Click here for AmazonAn attack that manages to ground all US and most of the world’s air traffic and close down the stock markets around the planet is something qualitatively different from a bomb in an Ulster pub. Human life is fragile, so is democracy, the world economy, globalization etc. The US can absorb U$ 1 trillion in damages. The rest of the world cannot. The US can survive a nuke in Manhattan. Brazil can survive a nuke in Sao Paulo. But Brazil cannot survive a nuke in Manhattan. What most of the world’s anti-Americans fail to understand is that whatever harms deeply the US harms us even more. Were Africa to suddenly disappear, it wouldn’t make much of a change in the life of New Yorkers. Were NY to disappear, Africa would go along...

...So, this is what I have to say for those who think that Americans have overreacted to 9/11. Actually they have under-reacted. One more attack on America and Latin America will be condemned to a further hundred years of solitude and misery.

There are around 200 countries in the world today. Think that every floor of each WTC tower was one of them. The richest were those closer to the ground, the poorest the highest ones. If the base crumbles, the hundredth floor is unable to stand alone in thin air. Besides, the closer people were to the ground, the safer they were. The whole world is the WTC and those who inhabit its higher floors want to see the building collapse. That’s as clever as setting fire to the floor below your own...

...The actual damage of a terrorist attack has less to do with its dimensions than with the when and where. A single, tiny blood clot can kill a 200 pound guy. On the other hand, though some people consider the possible nuking of a Western city a nasty thing that should cause no overreaction, the truth is that a nuke cannot logically be answered by anything less than at least two nukes. How long would any US president remain in the White House if, after the nuking of, say, LA, he went to national TV to say: we’ll find the culprits, capture them, send them to the Hague and you can all be sure they’ll spend the next ten years behind bars?


Nelson Ascher: Why I won't vote for Bush

Links o' the day



ABC can't find any Democrats voting for Bush

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041020-121512-3016r.htm

Undecided Voters Break Towards The Challenger?