[ambrose]

The Rat Strategy is clear. They know that Kerry is hated, and his favorability ratings are hopeless at this point. Therefore they want to throw mud at Bush and hope to bring him down with him. W has thus far not dignified these treasonous scumbags with a response, and I think that is the right call.

[CWOJackson]

"Besides a relentless pounding from the GOP, Kerry has experienced attacks on his Vietnam War service from a group of Vietnam veterans, and the Democrat's comments about Iraq have been a source of controversy."

Hmmmmm. I guess they haven't consider the candidate himself as being a source of the problem.

[smonk]

being a party to a fraud (by forgery) isn't going to help his already struggling favorability ratings.

[teletech]

This makes me wonder how Kerry is going to handle the debates. Is he going to take both sides of every issue? Boy, I hope so!

[KellyAdmirer]

Where are those guys who liked to give us updates on how Bush's approval ratings foretold his doom. You know, "If Bush's approval rating is 48 or lower, he loses, if it's 48-50, he wins a squeaker, if above he wins clean." It's funny how those guys only posted when Bush's ratings were below the magic 48% approval and they could spread their little nuggets of doom and gloom. Yep, real funny.

[StarFan]

Just finished reading Newsweek poll which said GWB's lead is narrowing to a 6 point spread. Polls are all over the place but one thing is clear. If Kerry is warning blacks that their votes will be disenfranchised and is beginning to question the accuracy of absentee ballots, he too sees the handwriting on the wall (says she with fingers crossed).

[midftfan]

As more people see Kerry the more they're turned off by the prospect of him as President. His constantly changing positions have exposed him as having no core values and lack of character. President Bush has his faults to be sure, but even the most partisan Dem has to admit that they know where he stands on the issues that matter most to Americans. That's why today we're in the midst of a slime war launched by a party that knows it's going to lose, and I think we all know there are some in that party who aren't going to be sad to see that outcome occur.

[bray]

36% favorability has to be some sort of record for a Presidential Candidate. We're talking Goober Carter and Nixon levels.....toast! Time for the Swifties to fire another torpedo!!

Pray for W and Our Troops

[Casloy]

Am I the only one who gets the feeling the Dems really don't want to win this election? It's hard to believe the number of mistakes they have made just in the past couple of weeks. They aren't amateurs at this and it's hard to believe how they seem to invariably pick a strategy that just compounds their problems. Normally I wouldn't even consider this possibility, but with the Clintons and their ilk working on the campaign, who knows?

[smoothsailing]

You have nailed it!

Cheap tricks and trailer trash tactics.

[FairOpinion]

"Kerry's favorable rating fell from 51 percent at beginning of August to 36 percent among registered voters in the new Post-ABC News poll,"

Love it!

No wonder they are acting like cornered rats.

[blanknoone]

a group of Vietnam Veterans

Umm, Wapo, you need to do better reporting. There are several large groups of Vietnam Veterans against Kerry. I assume your single reference is to the relatively small group of 254 who served with and personally knew Kerry. But there are other groups effectively opposing him as well. There are at least 2 groups of non specific Vietnam Veterans as well as at least one of former POWs. Without thought or research, I know of 4 groups. Four groups is not 'a group'

[NormsRevenge]

Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards (news - web sites) waves to supporters at LaborFest in Detroit, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2004. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards (news - web sites), left, shakes hands with Mark Cullins, during a tour of downtown Canton, N.C., Sunday, Sept 12, 2004. Edwards was touring the town after heavy rains associated with the remnants of Hurricane Frances flooded the area last week. Cullins was helping remove mud and debris from a local buisness. (AP Photo/Alan Marler)

[DaveMSmith]

This has really got to hurt. They live and breathe by polls.

[swilhelm73]

Hmm, Kerry's at 36% among registered voters...

Ok...well what about likely voters? Generally speaking likely voters trend more Rep then registered voters who trend more Rep then just adults.

[MHT]

Other than the battleground states' electoral projections, the only set of numbers we should be watching right now are the jobs numbers for October.

Interest rates will continue to be low (looks like Greenspan is going to give W. the rates he didn't give his father in '92), the market is poised to stay above 10,000 (no serious movement down and it seems to go up with each new pro-Bush poll), and, God willing, the Iraq war fatality numbers will stay lower than 3.5 day [hopefully less than 200 between now and the election] (which is the general US death rate for a population of 150,000 in that age group).

[LS]

That's their strat, but the "mud" they are slinging is the wrong mud. It's "vietnam" mud, which means that ANY TIME you raise the Vietnam issue---even indirectly by attacking BUSH'S Vietnam service---it hurts Kerry. So let 'em go, by all means.