THE NOTE -
NEWS SUMMARY
The Bush campaign, never lacking in verbal confidence or dexterity, is understandably bullish on two of the three areas that matter most now.
The certain swagger on exhibit (which in Texas is called "walking") is not wholly without justification.
In the trend of the national popular vote (as measured by public opinion surveys) and the tilt of the Electoral College map, all the President's men (and Karen, Nicolle, Mary, Jennifer, etc.) like what they see.
And if you read the Sunday papers VERY carefully (and Googling monkeys are uniform in their love of the clock falling back an hour, because there is a LOT to read today . . . ), you can see that some Democrats are acknowledging the first (and have always secretly understood the second).
The Washington Post: " . . . Bush aides are more optimistic than they were last weekend . . ."
The Associated Press: "As Bush and Kerry crisscrossed Midwest battleground states, a new poll showed the president moving ahead of Kerry in the popular vote, and Democrats said their private surveys hinted at momentum for the Republican incumbent . . ." LINK
The Washington Post: "Public opinion survey data show a close race — statistical ties in key states and nationally, with slight but steady movement to Bush over the past week. That allows both sides to build cases that they are winning. White House senior adviser Karl Rove, who devised Bush's reelection strategy along with campaign manager Ken Mehlman, said Bush has 'a clear lead' in the race for electoral votes." LINK
"'If you look at the upper Midwest — Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota — in order for them to win, they need to take every one of them,' Rove said. 'For us to win, all we need is one. And we're going to take more than one. We are going to take at least two, maybe more.'"
Rove's soliloquy leaves out Florida, of course, and might (just might) overstate the case, but it certainly falls closer on the continuum to plausible than possible. |
