”It’s a given among Republicans that a vote for Nader is a vote for our President. There have been stirrings by Republicans in other states to make sure Nader gets on their ballots, but so far there seems to be a devil-may-care attitude toward him here. I think that’s a mistake and I hope the Party gets more aggressive because that is what it’s going to take to keep this state out of Kerry’s hands,” explained one top GOP stalwart.

In Nevada this week it was disclosed that a Republican political consultant came up with cash to help Nader’s successful petition effort. And from Michigan comes word that the R’s there are also lending a helping hand to the consumer advocate’s Prez effort.

from Joe Monahan’s blog.

Here are your exclusive numbers from the Zogby Interactive Poll tracking the NM Prez race every two weeks. The poll was released yesterday (July 14). Kerry leads Bush 49% to 42%, with Nader at 3 and undecided just 6%. In the last Zogby poll released June 20, Kerry was at 50%, Bush 43 and Nader 1% and 3% undecided. Very little change. But in all four NM polls conducted by Zogby, Kerry has either led or tied Bush. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.3%. A poll of NM from American Research Group (see my July 12 report) also has Kerry leading by seven points [in New Mexico].

how to beat defeat George Bush

Brand Bush the extremist
Because that’s exactly what he is.
Extreme deficits. Extreme arrogance. Extreme secrecy.
Extreme conservative. Extreme ignorance.
John Kerry is the moderate one.

Bushlies.com by David Corn

There should be tremendous outrage–in the halls of Congress, in the public commons. After all, the Bush administration ended up waging an elective war, which has consumed thousands of American and Iraqi lives, on the basis of misinformation and disinformation. But who knows what riles people these days. In recent campaign appearances, John Kerry and John Edwards have challenged Bush’s honesty. The Senate report provides plenty of ammunition for such an assault upon Bush–particularly the section on Bush’s prewar claims that Saddam Hussein was in league with al Qaeda. The day after the report was released, Kerry and Edwards accused Bush of governing in a dishonest fashion. “The value of truth is one of the most central values in America, and this administration has violated” it, Kerry said. “Their values system is distorted and not based on truth.”

MSNBC – Altercation by Eric Alterman

Bush himself says he cannot think of a single mistake in his policies in which, according to at least one CIA officer, the president launched…

“an avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked war against a foe who posed no immediate threat but whose defeat did offer economic advantages.”

For Osama bin Laden, Anonymous argues, the American invasion and occupation of Iraq were like “a Christmas present you long for but never expected to receive” — a gift from Washington that “will haunt, hurt, and hound Americans for years to come.” Moreover, “U.S. forces and policies are completing the radicalization of the Islamic world, something Osama bin Laden has been trying to do with substantial but incomplete success since the early 1990’s. As a result, I think it fair to conclude that the United States of America remains bin Laden’s only indispensable ally.”

Picking Edwards Gives Kerry a Boost-Poll Reuters.com

The Kerry-Edwards ticket is leading Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney by a margin of six percentage points, 51 percent to 45 percent, the poll said.

The survey of 1,001 adults, to be published in the July 19 issue of the magazine, was taken July 8-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

It was the first Newsweek poll since Kerry chose the North Carolina lawmaker as his running mate on July 6. Kerry led Bush 46 percent to 45 percent in the magazine’s previous survey in mid-May.

But in a three-way race with independent candidates Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo, Kerry-Edwards edged Bush-Cheney by a slimmer margin, just 47 percent to 44 percent. Nader-Camejo drew support from 3 percent of those polled.

The poll comes amid speculation Cheney may be hurting Bush’s chances of winning re-election. Cheney has been a lighting rod for Democratic criticism because of his role in advocating for the invasion of Iraq and his previous ties with energy company Halliburton, which is being probed for overcharging for its services in Iraq.

Cheney has distanced himself from any claims that he has a financial stake in Halliburton, and Bush has strongly endorsed the vice president as his running mate.

However, the Newsweek poll said that if Bush replaced Cheney with Secretary of State Colin Powell, the ticket would defeat Kerry-Edwards by 53 percent to 44 percent.

News Hounds: We watch FOX so you don’t have to.

Meet the News Hounds
We’re eight middle-aged citizens who believe a viable democracy depends upon viable media. Read more in our manifesto.

OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism

Outfoxed examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News, have been running a “race to the bottom” in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public’s right to know.

NPR : Poll: Bush Rural Support Fades in Key States

Respondents in the Center for Rural Strategies poll give the president a nine-point lead over Democrat John Kerry in rural portions of the battleground states. Mr. Bush was favored by 51 percent of respondents, compared to 42 percent for Kerry. But the same people said they gave candidate Bush a margin twice as big against his Democratic rival four years ago — 55 percent said that they voted for Bush, 37 percent for Al Gore. (In the final election results from 2000, Bush won 55.5 percent of the vote in rural counties in the 17 states, while Gore captured 44.5 percent.)

Close to half of the respondents, 48 percent, say the nation is on the wrong track, while 43 percent say it’s heading in the right direction.

Bush in West Virginia for Fourth

A couple from Texas was taken out of a speech given by President Bush in West Virginia Sunday.

Police placed Nicole and Jeffery Rank of Corpus Christi in restraints after they entered the event with a ticket and then removed their clothes to reveal anti-Bush T-shirts, according to the acting director of the Capitol police in Charleston.

He said the two were asked to go out to the designated protest area, but refused.

Bush came to West Virginia on the nation’s 228th birthday….

About 6,500 people packed into the Capitol’s north courtyard to hear him.

As police rushed her out, Nicole Rank shouted that they were told they couldn’t be there because they were wearing anti-Bush shirts.

Police say the two were issued citations for trespassing and released.

Remember when all of America was a ”free-speech zone”? mjh

Rooftop Revolt — Overthrow Bush