Posted on 08/25/2004 8:00:50 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
WASHINGTON -- President Bush heads into next week's Republican national convention with voters moving slightly in his direction since July amid signs that John F. Kerry has been nicked by attacks on his service in Vietnam, a Los Angeles Times Poll has found.
For the first time this year in a Times survey, Bush led Kerry in the presidential race, drawing 49 percent among registered voters, compared to 46 percent for the Democrat. In a Times Poll just before the Democratic convention last month, Kerry held a 2 percentage point advantage over Bush.
That small shift from July was within the poll's margin of error. But it fit with other findings in the Times Poll showing the electorate edging toward Bush over the past month on a broad range of measures, from support for his handling of Iraq to confidence in his leadership and honesty.
Although a solid majority of Americans say they believe Kerry served honorably in Vietnam, the poll showed that the fierce attacks on the senator from a group of Vietnam veterans criticizing both his performance in combat and anti-war protests at home have left some marks: Kerry suffered small but consistent erosion compared to July on questions relating to his Vietnam experience, his honesty and his fitness to serve as commander in chief.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
"Now a lot of these decent people aren't going to go around wearing their politics on their sleeves. Many of them just go about their daily business and don't bother engaging the lunatic left. They are just going to show up this November and make themselves heard at the ballot box."
So true. It's not worth the aggravation.
"those babies at the kerry forum are shaking in the panties right now that california is so close, wouldnt that be the icing on the cake if we got cali. then again i might be embarassed if cali goes for bush, heh, dont want those nut jobs on my side."
I'm surprised you don't feel obliged to speak respectfully about Californians that would vote in the same way you seem to favor.
Most of California is conservative. Only big city areas, and whacky Bay region are leftists. Check the state map for county voting, which proves my point.
Let me help you with some of this. KQQL has probably forgotten more about political voting hehavior and habits, and how to read polls and the tea leaves, then you will ever learn. KQQL and I have probably traded about 1000 posts or more about these matters, over the course of maybe 3-4 years, and our calls in the end are pretty damn accurate, indeed KQQL's marginally better in hindsight than mine. Stop being condescending, and start being aware of one's own ignorance, which is the first step to knowledge. That's how I see it, and call it.
You might be right,maybe not. November will settle it.
A Cherynobl in progress?
Do you two think Gallup will show a preceptable bump for Bush or a backlash?
The LA Times survey seems to show a major shift, also reflected in these state polls. Still, I'm more confident of Gallup's work. Apprehensive, however, judging by how the Fox polit-panel was gabbing.
I, for one, think it will show a bump of some kind. I base that on the overall trending of national polls over the last week. They're all showing a break-out for Bush. Gallups last poll showed Bush up by 2%. More recent polls showed a tie, but that was with RV. LV is likely to more in favor of Bush. Also, the electronic markets showed the same trend.
Nobody knows how this passion play will play out (there have been ups and downs on both sides so far). Kerry in the end however, will have to answer this stuff directly, or he will lose. He is bleeding just by being coy about the details - and he was stupid to posture himself as a war hero at the Dem convention. Even a genuine war hero like McCain didn't go there in the his primaries against Bush. Genuine war heroes don't proclaim it. They don't need to, or want to, because war heroes just do it, they don't talk about it. They are men, not girlie-men loquacious poseurs. That is my sense of the lay of the land.
Bump!
tonight I sent them 100.00. That's all I can spare right now.
I want to pause for a moment in speculation regarding the immense jam Kerry got himself into. This is the bloodiest part of the passion play, so far.
What hurts Kerry is he probably does not know the plan of attack is against him. The initial response to the advertisments were shockingly noncommittal and lame, reflective of hubris, and self-denial. One has to realize that when Kerry is calling former fellow officers for help, as he has in the last two-three days, he was utterly unprepared--almost as if he never gave it a thought that this would occur.
Then comes what perhaps is the fatal error committed by both the campaign and the mainstream media regarding this story. They lost the ability to control their opponent by making them adjust their strategy or lose focus. Kerry and his supporters are still going overboard defending his afteraction reports basically. The Swift Boats are talking about the VVAW now.
That new ad has been running essentially unanswered in battlegrounds for two days while the screaming meemies are shouting about something else. We've seen meltdowns, but this is perhaps the first major political campaign to become *unhinged*. They've lost all sense of control, and the media is increasingly being left behind in their failure to notice the focus on Kerry has shifted to his antiwar activism.
Then, to go back to the original point. Kerry does not know what comes next. He knows the truth, but he has control over releasing potentially politically fatal documents. Could it be Winter Soldier? KC? Other naval records? He hasn't a clue.
He cannot answer directly because he doesn't know what the future questions are. He also cannot answer responsibly regarding the VVAW because it would destroy his campaign, damage his party and ultimately make him look very bad, which, for a man with his unresolved emotional issues is likely the worst for him to personally overcome.
In short, he's ^%$#@. People I think are sensing that and this is being reflected in these remarkable pre-Convention shifts.
Torie, John Kerry is an empty vessel.
No matter how we reviled him and his mob, Bill Clinton was a remarkably skilled and successful operator. I watched him work in Boston and I just smiled ... he's so full of crap, but it is spectacular bullcrap.
Kerry has none of that rougish charm and charisma. Neither does President Bush. Clinton's a once in a generation character. Amen.
Bush is trusted and believed. That's the winning edge.
That POW ad is devistating. It makes people stop and watch.
The poster doesn't seem to realize that it is some of those "nut jobs" in California that provide this Web site.
Take care of yourself and your family FIRST and ALWAYS! ;^) Right?
What a generous donation. Last Saturday, I sold two tickets I was given to the Packers-Saints game for $100 and I donated the proceeds to the mission.
It is good to find causes that are effective and righteous.
I'm a cynic and doubting Thomas by nature but I see nothing but honesty, sacrifice and duty among the SwiftVets. I'm so delighted to watch these men stand tall.
JENJIS Khan my ass. I hate Kerry just for the way he pronounced that name.
To sum it up, he doesn't have the knee-pad brigades suckling to his defense.
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