How sweet it is

Kerry comes back, just as he did in the primaries, where he was written off as a loser before his famous bounce-back. From Newsweek

With a solid majority of voters concluding that John Kerry outperformed George W. Bush in the first presidential debate on Thursday, the president’s lead in the race for the White House has vanished, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll. In the first national telephone poll using a fresh sample, NEWSWEEK found the race now statistically tied among all registered voters, 47 percent of whom say they would vote for Kerry and 45 percent for George W. Bush in a three-way race.

Removing Independent candidate Ralph Nader, who draws 2 percent of the vote, widens the Kerry-Edwards lead to three points with 49 percent of the vote versus the incumbent’s 46 percent. Four weeks ago the Republican ticket, coming out of a successful convention in New York, enjoyed an 11-point lead over Kerry-Edwards with Bush pulling 52 percent of the vote and the challenger just 41 percent.

It’s the debate, stupid.

Among the three-quarters (74 percent) of registered voters who say they watched at least some of Thursday’s debate, 61 percent see Kerry as the clear winner, 19 percent pick Bush as the victor and 16 percent call it a draw. After weeks of being portrayed as a verbose “flip-flopper” by Republicans, Kerry did better than a majority (56 percent) had expected. Only about 11 percent would say the same for the president’s performance while more than one-third (38 percent) said the incumbent actually did worse that they had expected. Thirty-nine percent of Republicans felt their man out-debated the challenger but a full third (33 percent) say they felt Kerry won.

So let’s be careful before writing our eulogies for John Kerry. It’s still uphill for the Democrats, but that hill has suddenly become a lot less steep, and it’s not at all insurmountable.

The Discussion: 6 Comments

This is a refreshing break from the contagious and defeatist “Oh if Bush wins, good– let him wallow in his own mess.” But I sure home Dems don’t get so puffed up over Kerry’s debating triumph that they forget to persist with the real work ahead.

October 2, 2004 @ 7:30 pm | Comment

Au contraire. This has re-energized us, and the smart bloggers have gone wild. But it’s too soon to proclaim morning again in America. We won’t let down our guard; no one’s under any illusions that this is the final battle. Things are only going to intensify as Rove orchestrates the next round of smears, so now is the time to fight harder than ever.

October 2, 2004 @ 7:36 pm | Comment

i can’t wait until the town hall debate when the questions from citizens are unpredictable and esoteric.

it will be pure hell for a president who is clueless …

October 2, 2004 @ 8:23 pm | Comment

O, confident ones: Take this bet. Even odds–Kerry VS Bush. My $1,000 to your $1,000.

I suspect you’re missing a point or two. Takers?

Regards,
Sam

October 3, 2004 @ 2:09 am | Comment

ShenzhenSam,

There’s only been two or three Republicans I’ve met in 56 years of life who I would trust to pay off a bet such as the one you’re lipping off about.

Joseph

October 3, 2004 @ 2:53 am | Comment

Now is as good a time as any to repeat the prediction I’ve been making with fairly tiresome regularity over the past couple of weeks:

Kerry is going to lose.

He is going to lose the popular vote, but win the Electoral College. So, come mid-January, Li’l George will be back to playin’ cowboy on his ranch.

And the right-wing élite will have a collective aneurysm. I can’t wait!

October 3, 2004 @ 3:33 am | Comment

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