USA TODAY - Kerry makes strides to close stature gap

[rndmprsn]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-10-01-stature-gap_x.htm

THE BIG MO!

Bottom line: The critical focus of the election, which often has centered on doubts about Kerry's consistency and Bush's judgment, almost certainly will turn more toward the president in coming days.

"What it means now is we will probably see a little bit more of the focus go back on a referendum on the incumbent," said political analyst Norm Ornstein. "That is a situation where there is enough dissatisfaction that Bush has got a few headaches."

...But Ornstein, an American Enterprise Institute scholar, said he believed that Kerry had crossed a crucial threshold on presidential plausibility. He compared Kerry to Ronald Reagan's 1980 challenge of Jimmy Carter.

"You have an incumbent (Bush) who has problems with the electorate, but who is winning or holding his own in trial heats because people are very uncomfortable with his challenger and have real questions about whether (Kerry) could actually be a president, and whether it is too big a risk to take," said Ornstein, who was in the debate hall. "Reagan got over that bar. In this case, I think Kerry got over the bar."

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[Eye and Monkey]

1. Kerry got over the bar, Bush stopped at the bar from a couple stiff ones.

Stayed so long at the bar, bartender closed-up around him and poured him into a cab.