Ending the Fantasy
It’s hard to game the election with all the conflicting polls. But the signs are pointing to a big turnout and a Kerry win
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Eleanor Clift
Newsweek
Updated: 1:45 p.m. ET Oct. 29, 2004Oct. 29 - Bush pollster Matthew Dowd, unshaven and looking weary, met with print journalists Thursday for one last spin session. For the record, he thinks the president will win, but he sounded so unconvincing that halfway through the hourlong lunch, a reporter said, "OK, so the race is very close and one or the other will win."
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When the laughter subsided, Dowd remembered his talking points and said a bit sheepishly, "The lead
is that the election is very close and President Bush is going to win."
Asked to name John Kerry's biggest mistake, Dowd cited the Democratic National Convention where Kerry left himself vulnerable to GOP caricatures by not talking about his Senate career in a positive way. But that was last summer's talking point and Dowd quickly caught himself. Kerry’s biggest mistake, Dowd said, warming to the subject, could turn out to be jumping on the story of the missing 380 tons of deadly explosives out of Iraq.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6363063/site/newsweek/