Battlegrounds States Poll - August 23, 2004

WALL STREET JOURNEL ^ | August 23, 2004 | Wall Street Journel Online

[COURAGE]

He will be Nashville soon. Panic time?

 

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	Kerry to address Legion during Republicans' convention
	Jodi Wilgoren NYT	Wednesday, August 18, 2004

KETCHUM, Idaho Breaking with tradition, Senator John Kerry plans to campaign for at least one day during the Republican National Convention, venturing to Nashville, Tennessee, to speak at the American Legion's national convention.

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Kerry's aides said that he would spend most of the Republican convention week relaxing at his family's seaside sanctuary on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts but that he would not miss the chance to speak to the veterans' group, a quadrennial ritual for presidential contenders. President Bush, who has spoken to the Legion every summer since 2000, has also been invited but has not yet confirmed an appearance.

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"He's doing it because the American Legion is scheduled at that time," said Tad Devine, a top adviser to Kerry. "If it was the week before or the week after, he would do it then. We weren't looking for an opportunity to campaign during the Republican convention."

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For Kerry, whose own Democratic nominating convention last month showcased his combat credentials to bolster his case for being a commander in chief, the veterans in Nashville represent a critical constituency. His speech there will come two weeks after the one scheduled for Wednesday at the convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Cincinnati, where Kerry plans to respond to Bush's global military realignment plan, which would pull 70,000 troops out of Europe and Asia.

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"He's a member of the American Legion," said Kerry's communications director, Stephanie Cutter. "He was invited to come address the group, and we felt like it was an important speech to give and an important time to give it."

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Campaigning during the other candidate's convention is unusual but not unheard of: Cutter pointed out that Bob Dole, the Republican nominee in 1996, had also broken the unwritten protocol by flitting between rallies and the beach during a "working vacation" in California, and Bill Clinton, in 1992, had barnstormed across Michigan as Bush's father made his convention speech.

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Charlie Cook, who edits a prominent political newsletter in Washington, said Kerry's move was unsurprising, considering how close both sides believe the election will be.

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"That's why all the rules get chucked out the window," Cook said.

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"Nobody wants to be sitting in the chair the rest of his life thinking about the 500 things they could have done differently. Is it a break from tradition? Yes. Could someone argue it's in bad form? Yes. Are we surprised? No."

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Kerry is scheduled to speak to the Legion veterans on Sept. 1, when Vice President Dick Cheney plans to be in New York accepting his renomination to the No. 2 post. Kerry has responded in this campaign to attacks by Cheney by contrasting his own service in Vietnam with Cheney's draft deferments.

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As Cheney was during the Democratic convention in Boston, Kerry's running mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, will be on the campaign trail throughout the Republican convention, though Cutter said she was unsure of his schedule. The Democrats also plan a rapid-response operation in New York, as the Republicans had in Boston, but Jenny Backus, who is leading the effort, said Tuesday that she was not ready to discuss its details.

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Kerry plans to pass most of the convention week on Nantucket. A four-term Massachusetts senator, Kerry spends far more time on Nantucket than at his wife's retreat in the Idaho resort town of Ketchum, but it is in Ketchum that he has spent 72 hours recovering from three weeks of nearly nonstop campaigning. Three bike rides, four restaurant meals, morning Mass and a stop for a snack made up Kerry's mini-vacation.

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Kerry said this was only his third visit to Sun Valley in summer, though he spent a week skiing and snowboarding in Ketchum in March. His wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, has been vacationing in Ketchum since 1966; in 1987, she and her first husband, Senator H. John Heinz III, imported a 15th-century English barn to be their vacation home's centerpiece.

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Throughout the weekend, Heinz Kerry greeted townsfolk by name and with hugs as the couple went to Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church and dined at Ketchum hot spots.

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The New York Times

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[COURAGE]

I have been smelling the coffee for a very long time.

[dangus]

I basically agree with the conclusion you are reaching, but there is a perfectly good reason Zogby's approval ratings trend lower for Bush: As he does with ALL approval ratings tests, he offers people the option of choosing "fair." He counts "fair" as a negative rating, even though roughly half of people who vote "fair" would give thumbs-up in a thumbs-up or thumbs-down question. But he has always done this, for Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Bush, Dole, whoever; it is not indicative of bias.

[RWR8189]

You don't actually give Zogby Interactive polls any credibility, do you?

And if you do, on what basis?

[L`enn]

Alng with you I am still predicting a Bush victory, and probably quite decicive. Kerry is in the middle of a "Dukakis August" now. Remember Bush was 5pts behind a sitting Vice President on Labor Day 2000 and won. Not rare, but not that easy to do. That being said most pollsters had Bush ahead 5 pts a week before the election, and it slipped to 2 after the staged release of the DUI. Zogby had it close all the way and I believe he was closest of all pollsters. Rasmussen was closest in 1996 I believe and they were way off in 2000, so maybe Zogby will be off this time after hitting it in 2000.
Who knows. I just see a trend building, that as a Bush supporter I feel comfortable and if I was a Kerry supporter, I would be nervous. Remember, noone is voting FOR Kerry, they are only voting against Bush.

[MikefromOhio]

You're stupid.

An interactive online poll? Hell CNN had one on there about Saddam and whether he should be executed, imprisoned or put back into power and something like 30% said he should be PUT BACK IN POWER!!

Going with an online poll and citing it as accurate shows the pea sized brain in your head has hit the wall and splattered....

[jveritas]

Courage:

What is your purpose on this site?

If you are trying to demoralize us, you have failed miserably. You should have noticed this from the vast majority of the replies on this thread.

I am pretty sure that you will be much welcome at DU.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Trolls taste like chicken. Trolls-the other white meat.

"He be Nashville soon."

Yes, but who he be? He be one thing one day and another the next. Confused and now scared, Kerry be.

[Verginius Rufus]

If Kerry's going to visit Nashville, he ought to go to Fort Campbell, KY, just 60 miles away, to explain his vote on the $87 billion.

[reformedliberal]

The opposition cheated and we still won. We had vote supression in the Panhandle. We still won. Gore lost his home state, helping us win. The Evangelicals stayed home due to the rumors that W wouldn't fight abortion and the DUI dirty trick. We still won.If Gore had gotten a total state recount, W would have had an extra 1600 votes or so, IIRC.

In 2002, we smoked the Donks all across the board and all the way down the tickets in a majority of states. We did this from lessons learned in 2000 and a ground game that we are using again this time.

Every Presidential election needs the Electoral College, BTW.

Rove is a genius; I didn't say he was Superman. He beats anything the other guys have and everyone else we have. He not only got a Republican elected as Governor in TX, he did it twice, something unheard of. By 2000, a strong Democrat state was a strong Republican state.

The only strategist the GOP ever had who equalled Rove was Lee Atwater. To this day, Democrats conflate the two and both give them fits, even though Lee has been gone 13 years.

YYMV.

[dangus]

I heard Rove say he couldn't believe the Kerry campaign did not see the Swift Boat Veterans attack coming. THE ENTIRE FRICKING DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION was preparation for the attack. For cyring out loud, two of the largest speeches of the evening were swift boat komrades refuting the allegations! Karl Rove is dumb as sh!t. What did the guy ever do RIGHT? Why this mystique?

[CyberAnt]

"I think Karl Rove has no idea what to do"

Sure .. Right! That's a good joke!!

[drhogan]

if it is a self-selected sample, the poll has no statistical validity. it is the samle that is biased (i.e., non-random).

[MeekOneGOP]

---

The "Poll" that matters happens November 2nd, btw .....

Hear the Donkey Bray
(RealPlayer)

[Expletive deleted] !!!

[reformedliberal]

I heard Rove say he couldn't believe the Kerry campaign did not see the Swift Boat Veterans attack coming. THE ENTIRE FRICKING DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION was preparation for the attack. For cyring out loud, two of the largest speeches of the evening were swift boat komrades refuting the allegations! Karl Rove is dumb as sh!t. What did the guy ever do RIGHT? Why this mystique?

---

uh: do you have some typos in that post? It makes no sense.

I didn't watch the DemCon. I haven't heard Rove speak in months, but I hear he will be on Hannity tonight.

Kerry and everyone else in the loop knew this was coming a year ago. The "Bush is AWOL" smears were pre-emptions for the SBVFT ads. Kerry and everyone else know that the MSM will cover for Kerry.

Karl Rove is W's senior political advisor.

Your post makes no sense.

[rrrod]

Day to day reading of the polls has led me to ask "why, after all the money and total attack against GWB, isnt he lower in the polls?" On the other hand, why is kerry still up in the polls?

If, after the RNC convention GWB hasnt climbed up we could be in trouble. Wait and see I guess.

[Old Sarge]

BUMP in a minute