October 18, 2004

The endgame

By Richard Baehr
The Baehr Essentials Sixteen days to go, and the presidential race is taking on an unpredictable character.  After sagging in the national polls after the first debate and losing much of his 5 to 6 point lead, President Bush seems to be experiencing a modest rebound the past week in the national surveys. The Kerry team's continued gratuitous references to Mary Cheney's sexuality, seem to have struck a majority of Americans the wrong way. Elizabeth Edwards' stupid comment that the Cheneys were likely ashamed of their daughter was the cruelest remark of all, though it received less attention than Kerry's remarks in the debate. But while Bush now has a 3 or 4 point lead nationally (larger than this in a few polls, smaller  in others), the key state races are very tight.  The Bush national lead may be coming in large part from pulling away in safe red states. Rasmussen had Bush up 7 a week ago in Florida (27), but now only up 2. In Ohio (20), a 5 point Bush lead in...(Read Full Article)