Between the Numbers
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6234821/site/newsweek/
The polls show that Kerry has turned around his ratings on key issues.
Meanwhile, campaign distortions on terrorism are undoing some of
Bush's own diplomacy
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Richard Wolffe
Newsweek
Updated: 3:13 p.m. ET Oct. 13, 2004
Oct. 12 - Campaigns and candidates like to think they can escape the
laws of physics. So both the Bush and Kerry campaigns claim with equal
certainty they have gained momentum out of last week's TV debates. But
as Isaac Newton correctly noted, every action has an equal and
opposite reaction. Bush and Kerry cannot both be rising in the polls,
unless Ralph Nader has suddenly nosedived from his 1-point rating to,
well, zero.
Bush's aides were almost giddy with delight at the improved
performance of the president after last week's contest in St. Louis.
But they may well have celebrated too early. As the latest batch of
polls suggest, it's Kerry who is emerging from the debates as the
clear winner. NEWSWEEK's poll after the first debate gave him a
40-point victory over Bush, with 61 percent of those who watched
seeing Kerry as the clear winner and a mere 19 percent picking Bush as
the victor. Sixteen percent called it a draw. Gallup's poll after the
second debate gave the challenger a 15-point lead. Kerry's wins seem
to grow over time; according to Gallup's snap poll immediately after
the second debate, Kerry was ahead by just 2 points.
Richard Wolffe
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