Bush's Campaign Chief Braces Party for Close Race (Reuters)

[Barad Simith]

http://news.lycos.com/news/story.asp?section=MyLycos&storyId=818938

Bush's Campaign Chief Braces Party for Close Race

By Thomas Ferraro
Friday, January 30, 2004 2:49 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush's campaign manager braced the party faithful on Friday for a rough and tumble re-election battle, one he said will likely see Democrats, from time to time, take the lead.

"This will not be easy," Ken Mehlman told the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee. "The country remains closely divided."

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A survey released on Sunday by Newsweek magazine showed Kerry holding a 3 percentage point lead over Bush. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Mehlman told party members on Friday, "We must expect an election where we will be behind at certain points, particularly after the Democrats settle on their nominee and hold their convention."

[Bandit]

1. Why does the country remain divided when we have a Uniter in office?

There seems to be quite the disconnect. If Bush* is a Uniter why are we divided, if he isn't then why did he say he was? Did he LIE?

[lancdem]

3. Yep, he lied

His word never means anything, as we've come to see over and over again.

[Barad Simith]

6. exactly - and now that you mention it ---

That reminds me of the right-wing pundits and talk-show hosts who always write off opposition to Bush as being the work of "a few left-wing liberals" or "the liberal elite."

It's hard to resist the temptation to hit the caps lock for this: No matter what your opinion on the legitimacy of the outcome of the 2000 election, virtually half the voting population declared themselves to be liberal!

Do the neo-cons really think Bush has done anything to make the ranks of the opposition shrink?

[lancdem]

2. Actually, he's right

The fact that he acknowleges it's going to be close is proof that Bush completely blew it after 9/11. With all that bipartisan support and a 90 percent approval rating, he frittered it all away by politicizing everything. Why pundits aren't writing about this is beyond me. This has to be one of the worst blown opportunities in presidential history.

[tom_paine]

5. "Why pundits aren't writing about this is beyond me?" Answer:

To do so would endanger their jobs and fiscal security (probably not their lives...that's more of a 2020 thing).

You just don't violate the Politikal Korrektness of Imperial Amerika, expecting no repercussions.

Remember, this is no longer technically a Free Country, though thankfully it will probably be some years before the other shoe drops at our level while the Imperial consolidate their unchecked power at the top levels.

[lancdem]

8. You're right

I forgot. :)

[Barad Simith]

13. I think they WILL be writing about it...

...after the November election. Bush's handling of 9/11 will be compared to Carter's handling of the hostage situation in Iran.

[Cronus Protagonist]

4. If I wrote the article I would have said "widely divided"

There's nothing close about this divide.

"FUCK Bush" Buttons, Stickers & Magnets

[Cocoa]

7. that meanie, John Edwards...

Bush is supposedly a tough terrorist-killer, but his political goon cries to Mommy at this:

Mehlman complained: "Senator Edwards called the president a 'phony' and just last night said our president couldn't, quote, 'walk and chew gum at the same time."'

:wow:

[susu369]

20. bu$h* couldn't sit and chew a pretzel at the same time!

*eom*

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Close, bullshit

W couldn't get elected dog catcher at this point.

[Barad Simith]

10. oh! oh! I have one ---

He couldn't defeat David Duke in Harlem.

[Arbustosux]

11. So much for being a uniter....

or should I say unificator?

[llmart]

12. Another way the media is

trying to set the public up by constantly saying it will be close so that the media can have something else to create controversy/entertainment. My instincts tell me that they can only hope it won't be a landslide for the Dems.

[central scrutinizer]

14. they would say this regardless of the polls

It is a way to shake some more money out of the corporate fatcats who expect several thousand percent return on their bribes, er donations.

[dw]

16. Speaking of polls...

I like last week's Newsweek poll...

"In general, would you like to see George W. Bush reelected to another term as president, or not?"

.......................Yes..............No............Don't Know
1/22-23/04........44%..........52%..............4%

[Barad Simith]

17. so there IS a God!

That's quite a spread, when you consider it's still 52-48 against even if you give him the 4% undecideds.

[YouMustBeKiddingMe]

24. Good numbers!

[truthisfreedom]

15. he's united us in our dividedness.

[kskiska]

18. They've been saying this from the beginning

but they never really believed it until now. Those New Hampshire exit polls sent shock waves through them.

[lancdem]

19. Yes, they have

before it was probably just rhetoric to keep the base from getting overconfident. Now they have a real fight on their hands.

[Timefortruth]

21. The campaign theme is the Democrats want to take America backward?

Mehlman voiced confidence Bush would prevail in the November election, saying the race would boil down to a choice between a Republican president who wanted to take the nation forward and a Democratic foe who would take "America backward."

Doesn't backward sound awfully damn good right now? Peace, jobs, prosperity and balanced budgets. Thank God George Bush put an end to all that. We can hope and pray that they stick with that theme.

Are you better off then you were four years ago?

[llmart]

23. How much more "backward"

could we possibly go at this point after this failure of an administration? Bunch of old, white dinosaurs trying to live in the past.

[54anickel]

22. When you consider he lost votes to Dems in the NH primary -

yep, I'd say he's gonna have a tough time.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=340328