Bush does lead
It appears that the Pew poll and the Harris poll were off the mark in
their methodology. The CBS/NY Times poll is consistent with the fact
that it demonstrates what other polls have consistently shown: that
Bush leads Kerry by around 9 percent.
The CBS poll has Bush at 50 percent, Kerry at 41 percent and Nader
increasing his percent from 1 to 3. The USA Today/Gallup poll showed
Bush at 55 percent to Kerry’s 44 percent
The Pew poll had both Bush and Kerry at 46 percent and the Harris poll
had Bush at 48 percent and Kerry at 47 percent. The difference between
these two polls and the number of other major polls makes us question
how they came up with their numbers.
Republicans shoot Bush in back
Republican senators shot President Bush in the back on talk shows all
Sunday morning. Republican senators may have accomplished what Sen.
John Kerry could not. Three Senators; John McCain, Richard Lugar and
Chuck Hagel all appeared on the Sunday talk shows and criticized
President Bush’s handling of the Iraq War.
"The fact is, we're in deep trouble in Iraq ... and I think we're
going to have to look at some recalibration of policy," Republican
Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"We made serious mistakes," said Sen. John McCain said on Fox News
Sunday.
McCain also questioned Bush’s integrity by saying that "perhaps not as
straight as maybe we'd like to see."
"We've got to take out the sanctuaries. We're going to have to
sustain, tragically, some more casualties. Airstrikes don't do it;
artillery doesn't do it. Boots on the ground do it," McCain said.
"And the longer we delay ...the more difficult the challenge is going
to be and the more casualties we will incur," McCain added.
Sen. Richard Lugar called the President incompetent in the fact that
only $1 billion of $18.4 billion in economic reconstruction had been
spent, "This is the incompetence in the administration," he said on
ABC's "This Week."
It is
unclear what these would-be candidates for President are accomplishing
other than doing what no Democrat surrogate has been able to do.
However, we are sure to hear Sen. John Kerry repeat all of their
accusations against Bush.
Bush to CBS: Questions need
answering
President Bush has said that CBS needs to answer questions about the
documents that they aired.
"There are a lot of questions about the documents, and they need to be
answered," Bush said.
The questions that need to be answered grew with an Associated Press
story that trails to retired National Guard officer, Bill Burkett.
Burkett is believed to be the source of documents that many believe
are forged. The documents offer a disparaging presentation of
President Bush’s guard service.
The new revelation presented by the AP is that disgruntled former
Texas Guard officer Bill Burkett communicated with a number of the
Kerry campaign officials including former Sen. Max Cleland, who is
deeply involved with the Kerry campaign.
The AP reported [LINK]
on a e-mail originating from an Internet group of Texas Democrats that
they received a copy of which was sent after Burkett communicated with
the Kerry campaign staff:
The retired Guard official, Bill Burkett, said in an Aug. 21 e-mail to
a list of Texas Democrats that after getting through "seven layers of
bureaucratic kids" in the Democrat's campaign, he talked with former
Georgia Sen. Max Cleland about information that would counter
criticism of Kerry's Vietnam War service. The Associated Press
obtained a copy of the e-mail Saturday.
Republican National Committee spokesman Jim Dyke said that the trail
of collaboration between Kerry and Burkett was clear, after hearing of
the calls.
Kerry campaign spokesman David Wade responded, "The Kerry campaign had
absolutely nothing to do with these documents, no ifs, ands or buts.
Jim Dyke inhabits the fantasy world of spin where George Bush pretends
we haven't lost millions of jobs and everything in Iraq is coming up
roses. He'd be better served getting answers from the president, not
hurling baseless attacks."
Burkett refuses to answer questions from the press. Burkett has also
claimed that while Bush was governor that his guard records were
destroyed. Burkett retired from the National Guard after more than 28
years of service because of medical reasons and has suffered two
mental breakdowns. Burkett lost a lawsuit against the Guard over his
medical benefits.
In other developments, the Washington Post [LINK]
reports that CBS rushed to air the story of the alleged documents. It
seems that several individuals warned CBS that the documents were not
authentic. However, when White House spokesman Dan Bartlett didn’t
question the documents CBS just pushed ahead:
Emily Will of North Carolina, one of the experts CBS had asked to
examine the memos, sent Mapes an e-mail outlining her concerns over
discrepancies in Killian's signature. She also phoned CBS and raised
more questions about whether the typography in the memos existed in
1972 and differences with other military documents. "They looked like
trouble to me," Will said.
Here is a link to the
Washington Post online graphics regarding the number of
reasons the CBS documents are forgeries.
U.N. Showdown
While there is a growing feeling that the United Nations is an
irrelevant body that can’t even handle the genocide in Sudan,
President Bush will soon make his annual speech before the
international body.
The last speech he made before that body called on the U.N. to act or
become irrelevant concerning Saddam Hussein. Since that time, the U.S.
and its limited allies have invaded Iraq and not found weapons of mass
destruction. However, they have found evidence of former chemical
weapons programs and mass murders.
In what may a prelude to Bush’s speech, the President offered the
following as his radio address:
"All the world can be certain: America and our allies will keep our
commitments to the Afghan and Iraqi people. Our long-term security --
the safety of our children and grandchildren -- will be served when
the broader Middle East is home to stable, democratic governments that
fight terror," Bush said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Thursday will be visiting the
White House and the President is sure to make the pitch that a new
generation of Iraqi leadership dedicated to democracy is developing in
Iraq.
State Party money
The
NY Times reports on what is another loophole in the McCain-Fiengold
Campaign Finance Reform bill. The loophole shows that soft-money can
be funneled into state political parties. The Times reports:
The McCain-Feingold law bars federal candidates and national parties
from raising unlimited amounts of soft money. But state parties can
still raise this money in places where it is legal under state law.
Though McCain-Feingold limits how much of it can be spent on federal
elections, state parties can still use it to help pay for
administrative expenses and other costs, freeing up other pots of
money to be spent on politics.
No Navy investigation of Kerry
The Navy has declined to investigate whether Kerry deserved his Navy
medals. The Judicial Watch group asked the Navy to investigate the
circumstances of Kerry’s receiving his medals.
"Our examination found that existing documentation regarding the
Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart medals indicates the awards
approval process was properly followed," the Navy's inspector general,
Vice Admiral Ronald Route, said in a memo written to Navy Secretary
Gordon England.
"We're a little disappointed, and we will look at other avenues to try
to get the truth out here," said Judicial Watch spokesman Dave Warner.
"John Kerry has not released all of his military records. And we think
he should."
“Buckhead” blogger’s identity found
The LA Times has found one of the individuals who makes up the pajama
squad. Although, it was never disclosed as to whether he was in his
pajamas.
Iowa Presidential Watch has featured political cartoons that have
satirized former vice president of CBS News Jonathan Klein’s comments
regarding the "new media":
Mr. Klein dismissed the bloggers who are raising questions about the
authenticity of the memos: "You couldn't have a starker contrast
between the multiple layers of check and balances [at '60 Minutes']
and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing."
The Times has uncovered the identity of "Buckhead" who was the first
person to raise questions about the authenticity of CBS’s documents
that were the alleged memo’s of President Bush’s superior (Killian) in
that Texas Air National Guard.
Since the discovery of the fact that Atlanta lawyer Harry W.
MacDougald (aka “Buckhead” on FreeRepublic.com forums) is the person
who brought attention to the discrepancies in the documents, Democrat
Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe has accused MacDougald of being a Bush
campaign shill.
The Times reports that it is not likely:
Associates of MacDougald scoff at the notion that he was doing
anything but acting alone when he offered his observations about the
CBS memos.
"Harry is a very strong conservative and a very passionate
conservative…. So if he sees something that looks fishy, he's going to
say something about it," said Lynn Hogue, a Georgia State University
law professor and former executive director of the Southeastern Legal
Foundation.
"When he's not absorbed with work, I think he spends the rest of his
life in the wee hours of the morning on FreeRepublic," Hogue said.
"And that's the outlet through which he shares his concerns and
insights, and so rather than being a matter of conspiracy, it's just
him doing what he does."
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