Section: Election 2004

No, after visiting the state three times in eight days (23 times in total this year)and with more visits lined up later this week, it is clear Ohio is going to be a serious battleground, if not the battleground, for the next sixty days. As they say, read on . . .

Performing a public service, Apple is offering, free of charge, downloads of the speeches from this weeks Republican National Convention. You can keep them on your computer, burn them to CD, or download them to your iPod.

You can download a free copy of iTunes here. Once you install the program, go to the Music Store and click on the Republican National Convention link.

For those of you looking to punish yourselves in some sick way, the Democratic National Convention speeches are also available.

Read on.

• Kerry's standing with Veterans has gone down dramatically.
  
• His Vietnam service is no longer an effective inoculant against `weak on defense' attacks.
  
• A non-trivial portion of the electorate now doubts his honesty about his service.
  
• The public has been duly reminded of Kerry's anti-war activities.
  
• The President has gained a slight lead in the polls going into his convention, thus giving his campaign the initiative, and maximizing the possible positive impact of the convention itself on his polling numbers.
  

Read on . . .

The excellent Daschle v. Thune blog has the results of a NRSC poll showing John Thune pulling ahead of Tom Daschle. The poll of 500 likely South Dakota voters shows Thune leading Daschle 50% to 48%, with a MOE of 4.4%.

And meanwhile, Daschle is running an ad showing him hugging President Bush and showing how much he supports the President. Naturally, the far-left base that's support Daschle should be livid - we'll see how this effects his Hamptons fundraisers.

Thune has a ways to go against the slippery incumbant, but Daschle is in the race for his life, and if anyone can end the reign of the Lizard King of the Senate, John Thune is the man to do it.

UPDATE: And don't miss jannelson's link-filled roundup on the Daschle v. Thune race.

Florida remains a must-win state for President Bush, and two weeks ago I said that Florida was trending for Kerry.

I'm pleased to report that no longer appears to be the case.

Opponents of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are fond of quoting John McCain's disapproval of the ads questioning John Kerry's medals. I've said before and I'll say again that I am fully prepared to give Kerry the benefit of the doubt on his service--especially because I think that plans for the future matter more than actions of the past, especially when those actions were undertaken by people in their 20s.

There is another aspect of Kerry's youthful record that the Swift Boat veterans have attacked, however--Kerry's antiwar protests upon coming home from Vietnam. And here, it appears that John McCain is an ally of the Swift Boat veterans.

Read on.

Ach, things are always turning ugly in the prism through which the media view campaigns. And now that I look at it, how in the world could the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald commission a poll with a 5.7 percent margin of error? What were they thinking?

See e.g. the opening scene in Gladiator and the maneuvering outside the Black Gate in "Return of the King."

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Bush leading Kerry 47-45% with Ralph Nader at 3%.

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that among Registered Voters, Kerry is leading Bush 48-47% - but among Likely Voters, Bush is leading Kerry 50-47%.

Read on for more: