The challenger restores his lead heading into the last month

[BenDavid]

Fresh off one of the highest points of his campaign – a superior performance in the first head-to-head debate against President Bush – Democratic challenger John Kerry not only stopped the slow leak of support for his campaign, but added back some air to the inner tube keeping afloat his run for the White House.

As a result, he remains on top in a still-tight race that shows every indication it may be every bit as close as 2000, with support for Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry teetering within a very slim margin.

Mr. Kerry now leads in the race for Electoral College votes and can now see a path to victory, but it’s still far from his grasp. Needing 270 votes to become the next President, he has coddled together a lead in states that total 278, compared to just 207 for Mr. Bush, the latest collection of polls by Zogby Interactive shows.

http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=879 released October 8, 2004

[flowomo]

1. "coddled together"??????????????

isn't that supposed to be "cobbled together"? Makes me wonder who those folks at Zogby are.

[morningglory]

2. Byslexia! I have it, too. Byslexics of the world UNTIE!! n/t

[JoFerret]

5. Shouldn't that be:Dyslexics of the world unite

t/n?
Meanwhile: Electoral Vote Predictor 2004: Kerry 280 Bush 248

[pretzel4gore]

3. nonsense here

the zogby org. has proven itself bushevik lovin jackbooted mediaho's again and again and again and again and again and again and again and then once again here!
kerry's miles ahead of goofy and his many dwarfs (btw where condolences rice?)

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. Zogby is actually a Democrat and has the most accurate poll out.

[pretzel4gore]

8. dennis miller's daddy zell miller

calls his self a 'democrat' but he isn't...he's a bush sucking toad, like his kid.For 30 plus years the newsmedia has advanced the rightwing agenda, and zogby's no different then the rest (gallup once was known for its fairness and accuracy) tho it might be less outright in its bushlovin' right now....meanwhile the bush crims have tried to overthrow legal government in the USA (even seymore hersh says it's 'astonishing how easy it was' to take over the country, as if there's some mystery involved)....let's put it this way: geebush really does not represent the mindless fools who support him, as the attack on USA happened to HELP the bush government do what they've done (damage america) yet zogby etal run 'polls' that ignore the fundamental illegitimacy of bush to start with.
>bush attacks kerry's character constantly, yet kerry refuses to call bush a liar(?) which he provably is!

[gratuitous]

6. You gotta love that "objective" lead

Kerry, now leading in the poll, is in a leaky inner tube, trying to keep his campaign afloat. What does that make Bush's campaign? A plummeting hot air balloon without fuel? Or doesn't "straight down the middle" Zogby choose to characterize the Bush campaign?

A couple of other gems of curious locution:

"Mr. Kerry lost the lead in none of the nine states he controlled in the interactive surveys of Sept. 21, and grabbed tiny leads in two states that had been counted in the Bush column in the last round – Colorado, with nine Electoral votes, and Nevada, which boasts five."

Why not lead the paragraph with "Mr. Kerry held his lead in nine states," rather than the potentially misleading locution "Mr. Kerry lost the lead in none of the nine states"?

And at the end of an entire column detailing Kerry's strength, endurance and burgeoning campaign, the writer says, "This is by no means a Kerry blowout." Why not? What trends can be identified that would lead anyone to believe that Bush can regain the momentum, or that he has anything new to offer? Of course, if it IS a blowout, Zogby and other polling firms suddenly see a lot fo contracts dry up because nobody needs a weatherman to tell you it's raining during a monsoon.

[struggle4progress]

7. SRBI/Time U.S. Poll: Bush 45%, Kerry 45%

(CPOD) Oct. 9, 2004 – The United States presidential race is deadlocked, according to a poll by SRBI Public Affairs for Time. 45 per cent of respondents would vote for Republican incumbent George W. Bush in the 2004 election, while 45 per cent would support Democratic nominee John Kerry. Three per cent of respondents would vote for independent candidate Ralph Nader, one per cent would back another contender and three per cent are undecided. <snip>
Source: Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas (SRBI) Public Affairs / Time
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 886 likely American voters, conducted on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, 2004. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
http://www.cpod.ubc.ca/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=4526


Marist College U.S. Poll: Bush 47%, Kerry 46%
(CPOD) Oct. 9, 2004 – George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are barely leading the 2004 United States presidential race, according to a poll by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. 47 per cent of respondents would vote for the Republican ticket in the election, while 46 per cent would support Democratic challengers John Kerry and John Edwards. One per cent of respondents would vote for independent candidate Ralph Nader and running mate Peter Camejo, while six per cent are undecided. <snip>
Source: Marist College Institute for Public Opinion
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 825 registered American voters, conducted on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5, 2004. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.
http://www.cpod.ubc.ca/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=4539


Neck and neck ...