Election

Can YOU reconcile these two surveys?

ABQjournal: Gloomy Outlook In N.M., Poll Says By Leslie

Linthicum, Journal Staff Writer

Nearly half of New Mexico voters have a gloomy outlook on the future of the nation, according to a

Journal poll, with 45 percent believing the country is headed down the wrong track. …

Only 39 percent chose the “right direction,”

compared to the 45 percent who said the “wrong track.” Sixteen percent were either undecided, had mixed feelings or didn’t want to share

their answer with a pollster. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.

Who’s the most glum?

They are highly educated (53 percent saying things are going sour), Democrats (61 percent), people who live in northern New Mexico (60

percent) and those who make between $40,000 and $60,000 (51 percent).

And the most optimistic about the national direction?

They are Republicans (72 percent) and people who live on the state’s east side (51 percent).

Hispanic voters appeared to have

less faith in the country’s future than Anglos. Twenty-six percent of Hispanics polled said the country was heading in the right

direction compared to 48 percent of Anglos polled. Fifty-six percent of the Hispanics said we’re on the wrong track, compared to 38

percent of the Anglos.

Women were twice as likely as men to be undecided or not say.

ABQjournal: Oh, So Close! Bush has Slight Lead in N.M.By

Andy Lenderman, Albuquerque Journal Politics Writer

President Bush had a slight edge over Democrat John Kerry in a Journal poll of

New Mexico voters, completed as the candidates prepared for the final two months of the campaign.

Bush had 45 percent support

compared to Kerry’s 42 percent in the Aug. 27 to Sept. 1 survey of 908 registered voters statewide.

Dump Duhbya

It certainly isn’t like the carefully scripted weeks of yore

News Breaks Against Bush (washingtonpost.com) By Dan Froomkin

Conflation Watch

Here’s how Scott McClellan handled the questions about the milestone yesterday:

Q Senator Kerry is calling it a tragic milestone, reaching 1,000 deaths in Iraq.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we remember, honor and mourn the loss of all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending freedom. And we also remember those who lost their lives on September 11th. The best way to honor all those who have lost their life in the war on terrorism is to continue to wage a broad war and spread freedom throughout a dangerous part of the world so that we can transform that region of the world and make the world a safer place, and make America more secure.

Q And you’re convinced each one of those lives is worth it, Scott?

MR. McCLELLAN: Each one — well, let me say, when I say we remember, honor, mourn the loss of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, we do so for those in Iraq and Afghanistan. We also remember those who lost their lives on September 11th, nearly three years ago today. And that’s why I said it’s important that we continue to wage a broad war on terrorism and that we work to spread freedom throughout the Middle East and transform that region so that we defeat the ideologies of hatred and tyranny.

Q But the question is, for — each of those families lost someone, a loved one, and each one of those is worth it — that’s the question.

MR. McCLELLAN: Mark, I think — I think of the cost we paid on September 11th, and September 11th changed the equation, as you’ve heard the President say.
—
Headlines blare the news that the death toll in Iraq has crossed the 1,000 milestone.

There are also big headlines about Bush’s record $422 billion budget deficit and the multi-trillion-dollar deficit projections for the future.

Then there are all the stories about Vice President Cheney’s jaw-dropping statement yesterday that a Kerry victory would result in more terrorist attacks. Even his own staff is qualifying it.

Bush’s spotty National Guard record during the Vietnam War is turning into a full-fledged media conflagration, with more stories out today and “60 Minutes” weighing in tonight.

Plus, Sen.Bob Graham (D-Fla.) is all over the media charging Bush with covering up evidence that might have linked Saudi Arabia to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

And while the mainstream press is not putting stock in unauthorized biographer Kitty Kelley’s hazily sourced allegations of past drug use by Bush, everybody — at least everybody on the Internet — seems to be talking about it.

It certainly isn’t like the carefully scripted weeks of yore.

[mjh: details on all of this at the link above]

Dump Duhbya

Fear is the Power, Lies the Fuel, Part 2

Remarks by the Vice President and Mrs. Cheney Followed by Question and Answer at a Town Hall Meeting

[I]t’s absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on November 2nd, we make the right choice. Because if we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we’ll get hit again. That we’ll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States, and that we’ll fall back into the pre-9/11 mind set if you will, that in fact these terrorist attacks are just criminal acts, and that we’re not really at war. — Dick Cheney

Fear is the Power, Lies the Fuel

Theirs

Senate leaders will soon move to approve the flag amendment (ACLU)

With several Senators absent due to

presidential campaigns, sickness or the aftermath of Hurricane Frances, the Republican Senate leadership is planning to slip in a vote on

the flag desecration amendment –- a measure that would not otherwise pass. But due to these absences, this proposed amendment to the

U.S. Constitution — which has already passed in the House — has a real chance of passing in the Senate. We need your help to stop it!

The flag desecration amendment would alter the First Amendment for the first time. Civil libertarians, coalitions of veterans,

religious leaders and other Americans have been vocally opposing this un-American initiative for many years, but its supporters have been

waiting for a moment like this to slip it through.

Take Action! The Senate vote will be extremely close and we need you to tell your

Senators to oppose this dangerous amendment.

American Civil Liberties Union : Act now! Senate Leaders Will Soon

Move to Approve the Flag Amendment

Election

‘It should be he said/she said/we say — and here’s why we say it.’

Campaign coverage needs to read between the

linesby David Shaw, LATimes

Steve Lovelady, managing editor of CampaignDesk.org, says he’s been appalled by the “everyday occurrence”

of this approach by reporters on the campaign trail.

“Reporters seem to think they’ve done an adequate job just because they give

both sides a chance to state their case,” Lovelady says. “But if that’s all you do, you may have satisfied the imagined constraints of

objectivity, but often you haven’t told the reader anything.

“It’s the most common and infuriating flaw in the press today.

Reporters just don’t measure what each side said against the known facts. It shouldn’t just be he said/she said. It should be he

said/she said/we say — and here’s why we say it.”

Election

‘The 10 big stories the national news media ignore’

Censored! The 10 big stories the national news media ignore. By Camille T.

Taiara. SF Bay Guardian

1. Wealth inequality in 21st century threatens economy and democracy
2. Ashcroft versus human rights law that

holds corporations accountable
3. Bush administration manipulates science and censors scientists
4. High uranium levels found in troops

and civilians
5. Wholesale giveaway of our natural resources
6. Sale of electoral politics
7. Conservative organization drives

judicial appointments
8. Secrets of Cheney’s energy task force come to light
9. Widow brings RICO case against U.S. government for

9/11
10. New nuke plants: taxpayers support, industry profits

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams