Okay doomsayers....let me remind you of something.

[Liberal Veteran]

There is nothing the media loves more than sensationalism. That's the bottom line.

If they don't portray this presidential race as a tie, then they have no story. It's that's simple.

So for the next 8 weeks or so expect to see continuing bouncing back and forth polls (all magically within the margin of error).

When Kerry was going into convention all the polls showed him ahead by a small margin and now that Bush is going into convention, they are all showing Bush ahead.

This is going to be the theme until they actually have some real news about the election which is going to be election day.

Cope with it. Stop whining, do what you have to do to get out the vote and above all else:

DON'T PANIC!

[Downtown Hound]

1. Good advice

It's also important to remember that in virtually every poll Bush's approval Numbers are below 50% That is a much better indicator for reelection than current matchups. No president since Harry Truman has won reelection with approval numbers that low.

[Touchdown]

7. The average for the top 6 in Aug is 49%

I'd be more confortable with a nice <45%

Polls I counted Includes...
Fox
CNN
CBS
Rassmusen
Zogby
LAT

[BillZBubb]

2. The problem is not panic or doomsaying

The problem is Kerry should be walking away with this race given the total failure of the Bush* crime syndicate. Whether you agree with the polls or not, it is still clear that Kerry does not have a large lead. Why is that?

We've been down this road too many times not to notice. We've got to find out why Bush* has ANY support beyond his 35% imbecile base. He simply should not have any others. We need to find out why he does and correct the problem. Time is short, this is URGENT!!!!!

Pretending this is some normal ebb and flow of a winning campaign is dangerous.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

3. Because the polls don't accurately reflect the voters.

Remember, polls are easier to manipulate than elections.

[AndyTiedye]

18. They Plan to Manipulate Both

[Liberal Veteran]

5. When we have a media not doing it's job, what do you expect?

CNN has moved to the right.
FOX news is more titled than the Tower of Pisa.
NBC and ABC lean to the right.
CBS is somewhere closed to balanced.
And up until this month MSNBC has been trying to clone Fox.

Between that and ClearChannels virtual stranglehold on the radio, it's amazing we are doing as well as we are.

[lucca]

10. The Media....

Kerry has been out there every day talking about the issues, and his plan for America.

And what do we hear from the media everyday?
The swift-boat liars!
The time that they have given to them, just sickens me.

Hey media: I'm waiting for all of you have a sense of decency, do what is right for this country, be fair and balanced; and then let the people decide!

[BillZBubb]

14. That's too easy an out--blame the media.

Look, I agree the media in this country has been pathetic and beneath contempt. But, we should FULLY understand how they operate by now. And we should use that to our advantage. But we don't.

For instance, we know the media WILL pick up on bold claims. When Michael Moore called Bush* a deserter, it got picked up. The media thought it might help Bush* but it didn't. And it didn't hurt Kerry.

We need to USE the friggin' media like the whores they are. Consider this spy issue. If it comes out that Israel was spying and Bush* used info from that source to sell the Iraq invasion, a PROMINENT Democrat needs to step up and call Bush* a traitor.

I mean someone with a household name. And ALL Democrats should not say they disagree with the statement, just that the charges are serious and need to be fully explored. Then they should go into the details explaining why the charge is TRUE. The media would have to cover it and it would have to be debated.

[Liberal Veteran]

16. So basically become exactly like our political adversaries?

Should we also include promoting lies as long as we are at it?

And when does it stop?

[BillZBubb]

20. So you think Michael Moore calling Bush* a deserter is

equivalent to the Swiftscum smears? Give me a friggin' break.

Read what I wrote for Pete's sake. We should use a factual basis to make the most extreme interpretation possible. That's not like making up shit. It's spinning enough to get on the media radar.

And we'll stop using fact based extrapolation when the other side stops making up bullshit. Satisfied?

[okieinpain]

9. i don't think he should be out in front by a big margin. but I do

think they could have handled this better. kerry of all people should know his record, and he of all people should have had his stories straight. the Cambodia shit was really dumb, don't say the shit if it isn’t true, close those count in this game. same thing with them pulling up all of this stuff with the citations on his web site. he should have had someone go over the stuff and even contact his old commanders and see what they had to say.

the sbvt’s have been pretty much discredited. but kerry's little stumbles here and there has really made him look bad.
.

[Upfront]

12. Kerrys Position On The War

Is his main problem. Wheather anyone likes it or not it is the reason he is not running away with the election. Ok, bash away.

[volosong]

4. Maybe not panic, but someone damn well better do something

Bush is even moving up on Kerry in CT for God's sake.

I heard on the radio a Bush appearance in Troy, Ohio. He was spouting stupidities, outright idiocies, and the crowd was eating it all up.

[Liberal Veteran]

6. Gee, imagine a handpicked crowd of sycophants lapping at Bush's crotch?

I'm shocked.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

19. How can you spout such bullshit?

he crowd was eating it all up.

:puke:

[rock]

8. I agree 100%

Very astute (IMO). As you are echoing sentiments that I have expressed on DU before. Let me iterate your first point in my own way: the media has as a top priority entertainment and this must necessarily mean that truth falls by the wayside. Your other points follow as logically necessary. The election must be a horse race! (Even though it's a thorough-bred versus a chimpanzee).

On edit: a few days before the election we may see some more honest polls as the media will not want to look like absolute idiots when bushsucks* looses 65 to 35.

[heidiho]

11. If the incumbent is not at 50% approval at this time

he's going to lose. Even Novak will say it.

"You're gonna lose, you're gonna lose."

[TexasSissy]

13. Actually, Kerry and Bush were more or less tied going into the DNC conv.

Kerry was a bit ahead in some polls, and Bush was a bit ahead in some polls. We wanna stick with the facts, here.

It is about the same now, I understand, although I haven't had time to personally check the polls myself.

The race has been a virtual deadheat for most of the year, with Kerry eeking out ahead, then Bush eeking out ahead, and going back and forth. The country seems pretty evenly divided and firm in its stance. It's those few undecideds in the middle, as has been predicted for most of the year, who sway the polls and will supposedly determine who wins on 11/2. Hence Bush's sudden turn (c-r-a-c-k) to the middle in the last couple of weeks (admitting a mistake in post-Iraq War, saying he doesn't think Kerry lied about Vietnam, saying he's against 527s, laying low on the God/faith bit, laying low on Israel, etc.)

[LonghornJack]

17. Good Point, But......Didn't * Reach Out to the Middle Before?

....like four years ago? Does the phrase "I'm a uniter, not a divider" come to mind?

Duhbya ran as a moderate in 2000, but once he received his court appointment, he turned hard right..., I mean really HARD RIGHT!!! No one has seen any administration so partisan, so extreme right-wing, since Nixon. If you read John Dean's book ("Worse Than Watergate"), Duhbya's outfit makes Nixon look pretty darn liberal.

How can anyone possibly believe him when he says, "I'm reaching out to the middle," then lurches hard right for four years, and then says "I'm reaching out to the middle" again?

How gullible can people be? Kerry has got to start hitting on Bush's extremist ideological policies.

Give 'em hell, Kerry!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. Sigh. I wish "America voters rejecting the policies of hate and fear,

massive rallies show hope for a change at the top" could be seen as a good story by broadcast media. I like that story. I don't even think it's boring, I think it's news. But I guess that they don't.