Posted on 08/01/2004 8:29:40 PM PDT by familyop
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - (KRT) - As John Kerry worked Sunday toward a late-day campaign appearance at a kids' softball game in Michigan, aides to him and President Bush began playing inside baseball with conflicting polls following the Democratic convention. One survey showed Kerry increasing a lead; another put Bush ahead. Kerry said polls don't matter, though he pointed out that a Newsweek one giving him a 7-point lead began interviewing people before his nomination acceptance speech Thursday. "This will go up and down," Kerry said on "Fox News Sunday." Indeed, just a few hours later, Kerry aides learned that a new USA Today/CNN/ Gallup Poll gave Bush a 4-point lead among likely voters; both surveys had error margins of plus or minus 4 percentage points - making the later poll a statistical dead heat. Bush aides, meanwhile, said that they had fully expected a convention "bounce" for Kerry but that it appears to be a small one at best. They also noted that Bush gets the chance to tell his side of the story during the Republican convention, Aug. 30 through Sept. 2. "We'll go into our convention, and then it will come out basically tied on Labor Day, is my expectation," said Bush pollster Matthew Dowd, also on "Fox News Sunday." Kerry's bus tour rolled through Ohio and into Michigan as Sunday morning talk shows aired interviews with the Democratic nominee and running mate John Edwards. Kerry planned to wrap up the day at a youth softball game in Taylor, Mich., near Detroit. Edwards, who introduced Kerry at a rally here, peeled off later to start his own bus tour through the South, starting in Florida. Kerry used the television interviews to attempt to answer Republican criticisms that his domestic programs would require a tax increase. The Massachusetts senator said he would finance his plans by repealing Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, while seeking to juice the economy with new tax breaks for the middle class. "No new taxes on the middle class," Kerry said on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," adding later, "98 percent of Americans will get a tax cut under our plan." Republicans called that a fiscal impossibility, given Kerry's pledges on health care, education, and investment in science and technology, combined with pledges to reduce the deficit. Kerry said the deficit is the product of the Bush administration, in part because of poor planning for the war in Iraq. Kerry told interviewers he would keep American troops in Iraq until it is stable but added that only a new president could pave the way for withdrawal by getting more countries involved in Iraq. While saying on CBS' "Face The Nation" that "I'm not negotiating it publicly," Kerry said, "I know what I believe can be achieved." "I think a fresh start for America, a new president with new credibility, has the capacity to bring people to the table who are not there today," Kerry said. Republicans said Kerry's equivocation over Iraq calls into question his pledge to be a strong commander in chief. They note that he voted to authorize the Iraq war in fall 2002. A year later, with anti-war sentiment rising among Democrats and presidential primaries looming, Kerry voted against a supplemental budget for the Iraq mission. "These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds, saying one thing one day and another the next," Vice President Dick Cheney told supporters this weekend in Arizona. "Our country requires strong and consistent leadership."
That's what Kerry gets for trying to be all things to all people.
What is clear is that Kerry got a historically low--perhaps even nonexistent--bounce from his convention.
What exactly that means for November is debatable, but it's certainly not good news for Kerry.
IN TOTAL AGREEMENT!
DRIVE ON AND,
GODSPEED!
Deus ex machinas are a beautiful thing.
"No new taxes on the middle class," Kerry said on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," adding later, "98 percent of Americans will get a tax cut under our plan."
Consider the statistics. 142 million returns were filed. 44 million file and don't pay any income tax. Who then will pay for government? Teresa?
Table 1:
Growing Share of Zero-Tax Filers
Number of Zero-tax Filers
(in Millions) Zero-tax Filers as a Percentage of All Filers
1980 18.6 19.8%
1985 16.7 16.5%
1990 21.5 19.0%
1995 26.7 22.6%
2000 29.9 23.1%
2004 est. 44.0 33.0%
Source: IRS Statistics of Income and Tax Foundation estimate.
If Kerry allows the tax cuts to expire for everyone then offers his tax cuts for the middle class, is there really a tax cut? I think it's like a store selling a product on sale for 10% off after the store marked that product 15% higher.
Paraphasing President Reagan: 'there you go again, kissing the french's butt.
"No new taxes on the middle class," Kerry said on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," adding later, "98 percent of Americans will get a tax cut under our plan."
Anybody remember the last time a democrat prez candidate made this promise? Feller named Clinton, wasn't it? Something about the biggest tax increase in history...
Hehe...I didn't think there'd be a bounce.
"We'll go into our convention, and then it will come out basically tied on Labor Day, is my expectation," said Bush pollster Matthew Dowd, also on "Fox News Sunday."
Dowd is getting to be the master of the understatement. Pitches them low and inside, doesn't he?
The Newsweek poll is of "adults." Not "citizens". Not "eligible voters." Not "registered voters". Not "likely voters."
"98 percent of Americans will get a tax cut under our plan."
If the tax cuts expire it will mean a return to the old rates...a tax hike by default.
They include terrorists in their poll to increase the numbers for Kerry.
From a message board:
"You and your right-wing media can believe and report anything that you believe will benefit Shrub, but Bush will be beaten so bad this time that the Supreme Court won't be able to save him. He will go down in history as the only un-elected (p)resident, and this election will prove that he was illegitimate for the last four years. "
Gerald Ford was not elected President.
Chester A. Arthur was not elected President.
Millard Fillmore was not elected President.
John Tyler was not elected President.
George W. Bush was elected President.
Well, there's a bit of old film footage that might deserve a bit of dusting off.
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