Carville and Greenberg say SBL ads have "had an impact on the race"

[TheStateChief]

NEW YORK – President Bush has gained ground on Democrat John Kerry in the month of August because of "relatively small but unmistakable" shifts in the political environment, Democratic strategists said in a memo released Monday.

The polling memo by Democracy Corps, a group led by pollster Stan Greenberg and strategist James Carville, said the subtle gains by Bush have knotted the race again after Kerry had a slight advantage after the Democratic National Convention in late July.

"There is no doubt that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads (attacking Kerry's Vietnam service) have had an impact on the race," according to the Democracy Corps memo. Those attacks combined with the Summer Olympics have combined to "shift the focus away from Iraq and worrisome economic trends."

The Democracy Corps analysis averaged numerous national and state polls to come up with its assessment that Bush is doing slightly better against Kerry, a judgment supported more by internal measures such as issues and candidate qualities.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/federal/20040830-1452-cvn-bush-kerry-polls.html

[lancdem]

1. And Kerry also ran no ads in August

so he was outspent a zillion to one and lost maybe 3 or 4 points in the horse race. Could've been much worse.

[KittyWampus]

2. Ummm, An Incumbent President Is TIED With Challenger

who ran NO adverts during the last month.

And said incumbent with the help of a complicit media promoted Swift Boat Lies.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. Here's Texiera's version of events

August 28, 2004

What that "Awful" LA Times Poll Really Means

"But the Bush campaign made a profound miscalculation. In the L.A. Times survey, only 18% of the voters had been convinced that "Kerry misrepresented his war record and does not deserve his war medals" while 58% said Kerry "fought honorably and does deserve" them. Independent voters sided with Kerry 5 to 1. Even men and self-described conservatives - groups that are normally quite pro-Bush - strongly supported Kerry, by 59 to 19 for men and 42 to 29 for conservatives. Other polls, such as the Fox/Opinion Dynamics and Annenberg Center for Public Policy survey found similar attitudes. In the Fox poll, even most veterans held, by 50% to 21% that Kerry deserved his purple hearts.

Moreover, Americans did not buy Bush's transparent attempts to pretend his campaign was not involved with the smear. The Gallup poll showed that more Americans think Bush is responsible for the commercials (50%) then do not (44%) and 56% think he should specifically denounce them while only 32% think he should not. An August 26 Annenberg Center survey found very similar attitudes.

http://www.emergingdemocraticmajorityweblog.com/donkeyr ...

[Julien Sorel]

4. He's dooooooooooooooooooooomed!

[featherman]

5. Check out the Democracy Corps site

for the full scoop.
http://www.democracycorps.com/

Hint for all DEMS: ALWAYS pay close attention to Stan Greenberg