[Apercu]

I believe Karl Rove & Co. have promised a couple of Oct. surprises for Kerry.

[KC_Conspirator]

I want my own October Surprise:

How about...?

* Letting OBL out of the holding cell we have had him in for photo op.
* Having Kerry's less than honorable discharge made public.
* Photo of Kerry relieving himself on American flag.
* More evidence of his involvement in assassination planning by VFAW in the 70's.
* More damning evidence of his affair with intern Alex Pollier.

[TexasCajun]

The only truely October Surprise was the Houston Astros!

[gobucks]

My October Suprise was learning Ronald Reagan was an Econ Major at Eureka College .... thanks for the info on your profile page.

[NavyCanDo]

Where is that video of Kerry burning the American flag. Does it exist or just a urban ledgend?

[Always Right]

Boston winning a pennent would be a surprise.

[NetSurfer]

OBL on ice. With a twist. LOL.

[js1138]

I think CBS pretty much neutered the press on Bush bashing.

[muleboy]

A short list of possible "surprises" to prepare for: (in no particular order)

Iran's nuclear apparatus attacked by U.S. or Israeli forces

Nader drops out, endorses Kerry

Arafat dies

A supreme court justices announces retirement

Ken Lay indicted

DOW drops another 500 points

Sharon's govt. falls

a terrorist attack in the U.S.

The 3rd Quarter GDP figures come out friday morning. Any number above 3.3% or below 2.7% should have a significant effect on the weekend news cycle. (sans any "other" events)

[Moosilauke]

Yes, I think it's a foregone conclusion that some kind of incriminating documents will magically turn up Friday morning and get a wide airing on the MSM. They won't have any kind of evidence, just a "charges-this-serious-need-to-be-discussed" rationale. Then Rather, CNN and company will have to spend the next 3 days treating this as the headline news story.

I'd bet on the drug-user charge along the lines of "Kitty Kelley was right, she just didn't have the details. This further evidence backs up what she was saying. And, by the way, Bush knew he'd never pass a physical and that's why he skipped it."

It doesn't have to convince anybody, just cause a tiny fraction of would-be Bush voters to switch or at least stay home. The strategy came within a few hundred votes of working last time. With four years to work on it (and with the guaranteed participation of the networks), the DNC dirty tricks boys will have come up with something sensational.

It's a riskless scheme; you're not going to have well-meaning democrats switch off of Kerry because they smell a dirty trick and are offended by it. Well-meaning democrats made that switch long ago.

[Christopher Lincoln]

Gary Sick didn't create the "October Surprise" myth. As far as I know, that dishonor goes to Abbie Hoffman (yes, that Abbie Hoffman) and Jonathan Silvers, whose article "An Election Held Hostage" was published in Playboy in October 1988. Come to think of it, that was an October Surprise.

Hoffman and Silvers didn't confine themselves to libeling Republicans. They accused at least one Democrat, Edmund Muskie (Secretary of State in the last eight months of the Carter Administration). Muskie's real crime, of course, was to be nominated for the Vice-Presidency by the 1968 convention that Hoffman and others tried to coerce or break up.