I don't think it's real panic. I just think there was a sense here and elsewhere in the conservative world ... fueled in a lot of ways, IMHO, by some of what Limbaugh's been saying ... that at the end of the day, on 11/2, Bush would win this thing going away and it wouldn't be close, that there was no way anyone in their right mind would vote for John Kerry and that all Bush would have to do is be presidential and above the fray and say "liberal, liberal, liberal" and "terrorism, terrorism, terrorism" and he'd seal the deal. And IMHO, this race was ALWAYS destined to be close. Always. I think Kerry won the debate the other night, but not by much and nothing cataclysmically shifted in this race, regardless of this poll. But what I'm hoping is that this poll won't spook people into panic, but might negate some overconfidence and taking things for granted, and remind people that the White House and all of us are going to have to work our fingers absolutely to the bone, 24/7, no rest and no quarter, for the next 31 days to pull this off.
I listened to Limbaugh on Friday and he did not sound too happy with Bush's performance either, no matter how he tried to spin it. There were several instances where Limbaugh said Bush didn't give the response necessary, or simply didn't hammer Kerry like he should. I've listened to Limbaugh for 13 years and he sounded frustrated at Bush's performance. He picked apart many of Kerry's points, but many independents are not as politically motivated as people on this board. They don't pay attention to after-the-fact evaluations. This was a great opportunity for Bush to hold his own against Kerry. He dropped the ball, big time.
Limbaugh did make me feel a little better friday after he brought the whole thing into context, But then he said if Kerry would be elected it wouldn't be the end of the world! I have to disagree with that and don't want to hear anyone say such a thing! The prospect of Kerry appointing 3 maybe 4 new judges on the U.S. Supreme court is pretty darn close to the end!
Well said!! Look people, we are fighting for the future of our country. If Kerry lets out about a Global Test during the debate, think what he will do as President. This is WAR. Sure, President Bush at least on style tanked Thursday night So what. The troops win the war not the generals. We are troops. We can't let this rattle us. That's what the Dems (Newsweek) want. They want to break our will. So we must keep on fighting till the end. Give all you got and thensome. By the way, the one thing that we all can do for President Bush is to Pray for him.