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"The Bush partisans cheered wildly, even when the president heralded the unemployment rate in Iowa -- despite the fact that it rose to 4.5 percent from 4.4 percent in the summer months."

Oh, the humanity, to have to live in a state with a 4.5 unemployment rate. OK I remember now, the Boston Glode is owned by the NY Times.

There's also skewed poll info. From the end of the article:

Al Gore won Iowa and Wisconsin by less than a quarter of a percentage point in 2000, and polls suggest that both states are now evenly split. An American Research Group poll of Iowa, taken from Oct. 10 to 12, gave Bush and Kerry each 47 percent, with 2 percent for third-party candidate Ralph Nader, who is on the ballot there. In Wisconsin, the most recent statewide poll gave Kerry a slight advantage in the state, 47 to 43 percent over Bush, with 2 percent again for Nader. That poll, taken by Market Shares Corp. for the Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV, was conducted Oct. 8 to 11, before the third debate.