Uh, hardly.
People were tearing Newsweek to shreds for their manufactured polling results, they suspected they might be attempting to provide a big boost to make it a dramatic shift in Kerry's favor later. Surprise! They were right.
Since I am a regular poster to this board, I distinctly remember many people saying Bush was ahead 5 to 8 points before the debate. I agree that the Newsweek number was not realistic, but other polls had Bush ahead by 8 to 11 points, not just Newsweek. So what is it now? Is he ahead 5 to 8 points? If not, why?