The election is not as in the bag as people say

Both the Pew poll and the Harris poll are back to calling the race a dead heat. Funny, since the Bush supporters I deal with at my job are saying that the election is "in the bag" and "not even worth worrying about."

There is a strangeness to them that has nothing to do with politics, but more that they don't think there is a difference between facts and opinions, unless they come from a news sourse they disagree with. Faux News could say that Bush heals the sick with the touch of his hand, and they'd believe it without questioning. CNN could show Bush strangling a baby while burning a flag, and they'd say it's some digital trick.

However, Kerry is finally starting to show some fight. In his speech to the National Guard yesterday, he said:

"[The president] did not tell you that with each passing day, we're seeing more chaos, more violence, more indiscriminate killings. He did not tell you that with each passing week, our enemies are getting bolder — that Pentagon officials report that entire regions of Iraq are now in the hands of terrorists and extremists. He did not tell you that with each passing month, stability and security seem farther and farther away... You deserve a president who will not play politics with national security, who will not ignore his own intelligence, while living in a fantasy world of spin, and who will give the American people the truth about the challenge our brave men and women face on the front lines."

With Iraq falling further in chaos, and Afghanistan slipping further out of control, he needs to HAMMER on this. Keep telling the truth and don't get distracted with who did what 30 years ago. The economy is shifting to a anti-middle class, low wage, service economy, bankruptcies are at their highest level ever, and the budget is primed to explode just as baby boomers retire. Who cares if they were ribbons or medals?

This is not a done deal, and Kerry only has to keep telling the truth to win. Bush is not running on his real record, but the perception of him as a person...because his record is one so bad that he should be behind by 10 points. The reason he's not is because Kerry has a poor campaign staff, and Bush's is brilliant and lives to hold power.

At this point, it seems like Bush wants it more, and last time, that was enough to win. We'll see if history repeats itself.