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KERRY TEAM LOSING HOPE IN OHIO? Over in the Corner, Rich notices this item in the Note: The three [Wall Street Journal’s Rogers, Hitt, and Harwood] also write that “Bush advisers noted late movement toward the Republican ticket in Ohio; one senior Kerry adviser, after days in which the campaign had been especially bullish on the state, predicted Florida’s 27 electoral votes might be easier to grab than Ohio’s 20.” But they get Rep. Rob Portman to admit that "We are allowing Sen. Kerry to paint us into a corner I'm afraid people are believing" Kerry's attacks on the President...

3-Way Race:Bush: 49% Kerry 46% Nader/Other/Undecided: 5% Definite Voters:Bush 46% Kerry 41% Unaided Ballot:Bush 46% Kerry 42% Unsure: 11% Other: 1% George W. Bush - Job Approval Rating:Approval: 53% Disapprove: 45% Unsure: 2% George W. Bush - Favorable/Unfavorable:Favorable: 55% (41% Strongly) Unfavorable: 43% (33% Strongly) No Opinion: 2% John Kerry - Favorable/Unfavorable:Favorable: 52% (33% Strongly) Unfavorable: 46% (35% Strongly) No Opinion: 3% Safeguarding America from a terrorists threat:Bush 56% Kerry 36% None/Unsure: 8% Dealing with Iraq:Bush 55% Kerry 40% None/Unsure: 6% Creating jobs:Bush 41% Kerry 50% None/Unsure: 9% Keeping America prosperous:Bush 46% Kerry 46% None/Unsure: 8% Is a strong leader:Bush...

In many states (including battlegrounds like Florida) in-person early voting began weeks ago. Today one in five voters nationwide say they have already cast their ballot in some way, and still more were planning to do so before Tuesday when interviewed Thursday through Saturday. 13% of likely voters volunteered that they already voted when we asked if they were likely to vote this year; the remainder told us that they had done so when we asked the method by which were voting. Early voters split about evenly, one-third each between Democrats, Republicans and Independents. They are a bit older: one-quarter...

Special Note for Kerry-Hating Fellow Liberals Who Can't Wait to Say "I Told You So" if Kerry Loses the Election Don't do it. You've been warned. If Kerry loses, there will be plenty of time later for everyone to discuss what happened. But please don't start with the "I told you so" stuff immediately after the polls close, because you'll probably get banned. Most members of this message board are going to be devastated if we lose. We will be coming to DU for comfort and support; the last thing we want to hear is a patronizing speech from some...

WORD FROM SENIOR GOP CIRCLES I heard, once again, from an individual “familiar with internal discussions within the Bush campaign.” This information is what big cheeses in GOP circles are saying to middle cheeses in GOP circles. The big picture is, Bush has the momentum and is playing offense, while Kerry is on the defensive going into Election Day. A key panic button moment for Kerry campaign came on Friday, when the candidate lectured the American people to “wake up.” The 72-hour Get-Out-The-Vote Operation has been launched. Starting Friday and continuing through Tuesday, 150,000 volunteers in the most competitive states...

Osama bin Laden, the man President Bush vowed to capture "dead or alive," tossed a bombshell into the deadheat U.S. presidential campaign on Friday in a video address to the American people which some political analysts said could actually help Bush. Bin Laden, in his first video in more than a year, threatened new attacks on the United States. "Despite entering the fourth year after Sept. 11, Bush is still deceiving you and hiding the truth from you and therefore the reasons are still there to repeat what happened," he said. Political analysts contacted by Reuters were still trying to...

The top official of President Bush's re-election bid on Tuesday termed Wisconsin a "classic example" of a so-called blue state that voted Democratic in 2000 "becoming purple and becoming redder." "I feel great about Wisconsin," campaign manager Ken Mehlman told reporters on a day when both Bush and Sen. John Kerry wooed voters in Wisconsin. "We have a fantastic organization, and we're doing well. We're ahead, and if the election were today, we would win in Wisconsin." Mehlman highlighted recent public polls in the state showing Bush up by 6 or 7 percentage points but described an ambitious travel schedule...

This is a brief response and note to Kathryn's bringing to our attention Jay Costs points (below). I also think that Bush is doing much better in Ohio than the MSM gives him credit for; the MSM are spinning. And this explains why Bush was able to stay away from the state for ten days; he has a chance to take Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, and still hold Ohio. Rove isn't an idiot and they haven't given up on Ohio. Jay mentions many good reasons for thinking this and he is essentially correct. I want to emphasize a few things,...

Conventional wisdom has long held that the key to winning the presidential election is to take Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. President Bush says it's not so simple. In an exclusive interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson, airing on "World News Tonight" and "Good Morning America," Bush notes the field of states that could help decide the election may be bigger than casual observers believe. "I wouldn't discount Michigan," Bush says. "I wouldn't discount the influence of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and New Mexico. I think this race is a non-predictable race. I think people like to boil it down to one...

Detriot News tracking poll (601 LV): Bush 47%, Kerry 42%, Nader 1%. MOE: 4%

President Bush is now ahead of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, according to a new statewide Star-Bulletin and KITV 4 News poll. The numbers show a shift in Hawaii voters towards the Republican president. The new poll of 612 registered voters who said they are likely to vote in the election has Bush with a one percent lead. In August, Kerry was leading by seven percentage points. The margin of error is plus or minus four points. The poll was taken Oct. 17 to 20 by Hawaii-based SMS Research. The poll also shows that as the race draws to a...

In 2000, George W. Bush won the presidency because West Virginia, a reliably Democratic state went his way. In 2004, President Bush could secure a big win in the electoral-college by picking off Michigan, another blue state that John Kerry must win to have any chance at the presidency. A Detroit News poll conducted October 20-21 has President Bush leading Kerry by a narrow margin of 47 percent to 43 percent. Michigan hasn't voted for a Republican for president since 1988 and for good reason. The state, home to the United Auto Workers (UAW), is a hotbed of union activism....

President Bush has opened a 5 point lead against Senator John Kerry, according the latest TIME poll. If the 2004 election for President were held today, 51% of likely voters surveyed would vote for President George W. Bush, 46% would vote for Senator John Kerry, and 2% would vote for Ralph Nader, according to the TIME poll conducted by telephone from Oct. 19 – 21. Among all registered voters surveyed, Bush leads Kerry 50% to 43%. Last week’s TIME poll found 48% of likely voters would vote for Bush, 47% would vote for Kerry, and 3% would vote for Nader....

Often dismissed as too small, too isolated and too Democratic to worry about in presidential contests, Hawaii suddenly has a close race. Democrats say Sen. John Kerry still has an edge over President Bush in the contest for Hawaii's four electoral votes, but the race has become awfully tight for their comfort. With late poll closings — 11 p.m. EST on Nov. 2 — and a slow count, Hawaii politicians are talking about offering a dramatic conclusion to what could be an ultra-close national election. [...] The only statewide media poll, more than two months ago, showed Kerry leading Bush,...

Anyone watching this jerk? This man has committed TREASON during Vietnam and continues to commit TREASON today.

It's the latest political cliche: this is a divided country. Or this is a polarized country. Or this, if you prefer, is a nation that has been split since the 2000 election between the heartland "red states" that supported George W. Bush and the Northeast and western "blues" (map, below) that went for Al Gore. Ipso facto, 2004 is going to be a really close election. But wait. While the political cognoscenti have been frantically trying to handicap the Democrats--first in Iowa, and now busily recalibrating their prognostications for the New Hampshire primary--something quantifiable has actually been happening among voters....

Former Vermont Governor Dr. Howard Dean, who enjoyed a 40% - 17% lead in October polling of New Hampshire Democratic primary likely voters over Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, has stretched that lead in December polling to 42% - 12%. Retired general Wesley Clark is third at 9%, followed by Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman with 7%. Polling in Zogby’s “Road to Boston” series was conducted December 1 – 3, and involved 503 likely Democratic and Independent voters in New Hampshire’s January 27th Democratic primary election. The margin of error is +/- 4.5 percentage points, and margins are higher in sub-groups. North...

Panic Time "Frantic" barely describes the mindset of the lefties these days. With the sprint phase of Election 2004 scarcely a year away, and with a collection of potential presidential candidates 'mongst the Democrats that any zoo keeper would be proud to have in his ape house, politicos and pundits alike are beating old themes like filthy carpets as they try to regain the approval of an electorate/readership that is abandoning them in droves. There is one new tactic, though - that of trying to make scandal out of glory. Take the prez's recent carrier landing on the USS Abraham...