[wideawake]

I think Caddell is being too pessimistic.

The rest of the mainstream media will do their level best to downplay the blatant forgery.

I hope Caddell is right, of course. A landslide for Bush would give him the mandate that the Florida antics deprived him of.

Even better, it would give him very long coattails - we need a 10 vote majority in the Senate and a 50 vote majority in the House.

[keat]

Tend to agree. These things always look bigger when they're in your face.

Have to remember the the MSM is still the huge filter that the vast majority of people get their news through. They will throw a blanket over this and it will die down in a short period of time.

Case in point - Sandy Beger.

All in all, though, a huge short term boost for Bush and the Republicans.

[oceanview]

I agree. the mainstream media still controls the news that american democrats and many swing voters see, and they can still bury this story or put some spin on it to make it seem less blatant then it really is. to get a real landslide for Bush, you'd have to cut into the votes from the Dem base - and the media isn't going to allow that.

still, every news cycle that Kerry fails to make points in now - is a win for Bush. and this story should knock about 5 cycles out of the remaining 54.

[sinkspur]

The rest of the mainstream media will do their level best to downplay the blatant forgery.

I disagree, strongly. The MSM is sinking in public estimation and support, and, with one shark bleeding, the other sharks will turn on the dying one in a fury.

They will also crucify Kerry if it turns out his campaign duped CBS.

It's about survival.

[normy]

The rest of the mainstream media will do their level best to downplay the blatant forgery.

You're right. I see the excuse being carelessness and the desire to get a hot story out first without doing their homework. Someone down the ladder will be blamed and the other major news channels will assure us this sometimes happens in the competitive business of news. They will all look deep into how they do things and try to correct the problem. Just like calling Florida for Gore before the polls closed. They used the same damn excuse, however I think most of us know better.

[stockpirate]

other media outlets smell blood in the water, I think O'Danny Boy has made a few enemies

[P-Marlowe]

The rest of the mainstream media will do their level best to downplay the blatant forgery.

Normally that might be true, but if CBS is sinking, I don't think ABCNBC will hop on board. I think they might even take advanage of the situation and do a little piling on.

CBS is up to its neck in this mess. CBS has no alternative but to put on an OJ defense and pray that the American people are as stupid and naieve as they are.

I don't think the rest of the media wants to go down with CBS.