The Trick Is A Treat

Karl Rove, Karen Hughes and other Bush advisors and staffers went trick or treating tonight…

John Kerry Not Confident of Victory

It’s pretty standard for a candidate to say “when I win” not “if I win.” In order to win, it is necessary to be project confidence in victory at all times.
Kerry, in an interview today, basically conceded that he could lose:

Democratic Sen. John Kerry told The Associated Press Sunday that if he is elected president, he will begin a “flurry of activity” to protect national security that will include quick Cabinet appointments.

With the outcome of the race uncertain two days out, Kerry kept switching between saying “if I win” and “when I win.”

“The disappointment will not be personally if I lost, oh God, I lost,” Kerry said. “But it would be I didn’t get the chance to do those things for those folks that I wanted.”

Kerry said if he wins, he would begin putting his Cabinet together “as fast as I can.” Some names being mentioned for his national security team include former United Nations Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.

“If the American people make me president Tuesday, they will see a flurry of activity and leadership with respect to our national security interests that they’ve never seen, but I’m going to wait until I’m there,” Kerry said.

“If”, not “when.” This subtle, yet revealing change in choice of words indicates that Kerry himself has doubts of victory. And this lack of confidence could very well contribute to his downfall.

Open Thread: Predict The Electoral Vote Count

We’re getting so very close… As we get closer to the end, the national polls seem to matter very little and the state polls become much more significant. So what do you think will be the electoral count in the end? What scenarios do you see happening? The New York Times has a nifty Electoral Vote Calculator if you need help figuring it out.

John Kerry Takes Poll to See How He Should React to Bin Laden Tape

From our friend at ABC’s “Noted Now”:

CHENEY IN FORT DODGE, IA: “He went out and went into the field with a public opinion poll to find out what he should say about this tape of Osama Bin Laden. Tt was as if he doesn’t know what he believesÖ”
STAN GREENBERG TO REPORTERS ON DEMOCRACY CORPS POLL: “I’m going to read you a paraphrasement about the release of Bin Laden’s videotape, please tell me what comes closer to your view: One, it makes me think that George W. Bush took his eye of the ball in Afghanistan and diverted his resources to Iraq; Two, it underscores the importance of George Bush’s approach to terrorism. By ten points, 46-36 percent, voters responding to the survey agreed with the first statement, rather than the second.”

Here are Cheney’s full remarks.

(more…)

The Ketchup Doesn’t Flow Far From The Bottle

The Kerry campaign has had some problems keeping a muzzle on Teresa Heinz-Kerry, but now it looks like they have to put one on her son, (John Kerry’s step-son) Chris Heinz:

THIS campaign is ending just in time before someone gets hurt. John Kerry’s stepson, Chris Heinz, 31, displayed his mother Teresa’s famous lack of rhetorical restraint at a recent campaign event with a group of Wharton students. Philadelphia magazine reports: “Heinz accused Kerry’s opponents – ‘our enemies’ – of making the race dirty. ‘We didn’t start out with negative ads calling George Bush a cokehead,’ he said, before adding, ‘I’ll do it now.‘ Asked later about it, Heinz said, ‘I have no evidence. He never sold me anything.’” Heinz also reminded writer Sasha Issenberg of Pat Buchanan by saying, “One of the things I’ve noticed is the Israel lobby – the treatment of Israel as the 51st state, sort of a swing state.” Buchanan was blasted as an anti-Semite years ago when he cited Israel’s “amen corner” in Congress. [emphasis mine]