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Politics : Proof that John Kerry is Unfit for Command -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (19638)	10/17/2004 9:22:48 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27181

Bush surges in poll By USA TODAY staff Posted 10/17/2004 2:25 PM usatoday.com WASHINGTON — With just two weeks left until Election Day, President Bush surged to an eight-point lead over Democratic challenger John Kerry in the latest USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup national poll, a margin comparable to one he enjoyed immediately before the three presidential debates. (Related link: Poll results) In a poll taken Thursday-Saturday, Bush received 52% support from likely voters, Kerry received 44% and independent Ralph Nader received 1%. Three percent of likely voters had no opinion. The poll was based on a survey of 788 likely voters, with a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points. The 52-44 spread is identical to the margin Bush enjoyed in the USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll immediately before the debates. The survey shows significant movement since the last USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll, taken Oct. 9-10, which showed Kerry with 49% support to Bush's 48% and Nader's 1%. Bush regained a lead in the poll even though a plurality of likely voters thought Kerry won last Wednesday's debate — 47% for Kerry to 35% for Bush. But the percentage of likely voters who view Bush favorably climbed in the past week from 51% to 58%, while the number who viewed Kerry favorably stayed at the 51% level. Kerry also finds himself battling the Bush campaign's attempts to label him as too liberal. Among likely voters, half (52%) say Kerry's political views are too liberal. Conversely, 41% of likely voters see Bush as too conservative. Bush also has a lead in other recent polls. A Newsweek poll released Friday gave Bush 50% to Kerry's 44%; a Time magazine poll released the same day gave Bush a 48-47 edge; Friday's poll from The Washington Post gave Bush a 50-47 advantage and a Zogby poll released Friday gave Bush 48% and Kerry 44%. The USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll is based on interviews with 1,013 national adults. The poll has a margin of error of between 3% and 5%, depending on the question.

To: American Spirit who wrote (19638)	10/17/2004 9:36:32 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27181

Here, now shut your lying pie hole about it. ......" During the Vietnam era, guardsmen were required to accumulate 50 points to meet their yearly obligations. After training, Lt. Bush kept flying, racking up hundreds of hours in F-102 jets performing his squadron mission. According to his military records released this year, he earned 253 points in his first year, 340 points the second year, 137 points the third year and 112 points in his fourth year of duty. In other words, Lt. Bush showed up a lot, earning more than four times the required duty points in his first four years. "..... washtimes.com ....." Over the next three years, he logged 326.4 hours as a pilot and an additional 9.9 hours as a co-pilot, most of it in the F-102a jet used to intercept enemy aircraft."..... msnbc.msn.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (19638)	10/17/2004 10:10:54 PM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 27181

Ambivalence at its best.

To: American Spirit who wrote (19638)	10/17/2004 11:02:19 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 27181

Bogus polls mask landslide in the making _________________________________________ Voter Dissatisfaction Indicates It Won't Be Close by Byron Williams Published on Saturday, October 16, 2004 by Working For Change Conventional wisdom suggests this year's presidential election will be close. Practically every poll taken has the race within the margin of error. At the risk of looking like a fool, I am prepared to respectfully disagree with conventional wisdom to offer the following contrarian perspective: The election will not be close. Before you sit down to your computer to begin your "Williams, have you lost your mind?" rant, hear me out. I have reached this conclusion for two reasons. My first reason is shaped by what polls cannot see. When I was in Philadelphia last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story in the local section that addressed increased voter registration. The final day of registration in Pennsylvania and New Jersey last week brought huge crowds to registration offices. As of September, Philadelphia had received 219,000 applications from either new voters or those who had moved or had been stricken from the rolls. With some 60,000 applications arriving on the final day, it is possible the city's volume this year could break the record of 293,000 applications set in the tension-filled mayoral race of 1983 between Wilson Goode and Frank Rizzo. This trend of increased voter registration is replicated, in particular, in a majority of the battleground states. According to the New York Times, voter registration campaigns in heavily Democratic areas have added tens of thousands of new voters to the rolls in the swing states of Ohio and Florida, a surge that far exceeds the efforts of Republicans in both states. The analysis by the Times of county-by-county data shows that in Democratic areas of Ohio -- primarily low-income and minority neighborhoods -- new registrations since January have risen 250 percent over the same period in 2000. In comparison, new registrations have increased just 25 percent in Republican areas. A similar pattern is apparent in Florida: In the strongest Democratic areas, the pace of new registration is 60 percent higher than in 2000, while it has risen just 12 percent in the heaviest Republican areas. Project Vote says it has registered 147,000 new voters in Ohio. Americans Coming Together said that, together with allied groups that are part of America Votes, it had registered 300,000 new voters. In New Mexico, the Secretary of State's office reports that since May voter registration has jumped from approximately 958,000 to a little more than 1 million, possibly all new registrants. Those younger than 30 who are increasingly concerned about a potential draft are also registering in increased numbers. These new registrants are not considered in most polling. A growing number of young people use cell phones as their primary phone number. This further diminishes the possibility that their support for either candidate would be reflected in polling data. Thus, they are the great unknown in this election. My second reason, if history is any barometer, is that when incumbent presidents seek re-election, it is a referendum on the previous four years. Since 1932, 11 incumbent presidents have sought re-election; with the possible exception of 1948 and 1976, none of the races has been close. When we want to keep a president, we keep him; Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan and Clinton are prime examples. Likewise, when we want him out, he's out: Hoover, Carter and Bush 41. More and more this race is shaping up like 1980. That race remained close until the last few weeks, when voters found a comfort level with then-challenger Ronald Reagan that allowed them to oust President Carter. It difficult for me to believe the race is as close as the polls indicate, especially when one considers that 56 percent of the electorate feels the country is headed in the wrong direction. Moreover, it has been 16 months since 50 percent felt we were headed in the right direction. I don't believe we will be in court discussing hanging, dimpled or pregnant chads on Nov. 3. commondreams.org