Lots happening.
- Stirling Newberry describes the campaigns' master plans and fears as we enter the home stretch:
Television rules the day from here on in, it is about, not the doers, the thinkers the talkers – but the watchers. And in recent days those watchers are breaking hard away from Bush, because his message of “Iraq is alright” is not matching what they see from their own lives. In the next few days the mood of the media will also be important – do they stand by their man? Or do they begin to come over to the idea that kicking Bush can play – and that CBS wasn't wrong, just a little to early in shorting Bush with their memo story?
Bush's reliance on Iraq says he knows that the economy, and even terror are losing messages. Which means he knows he has lost. Kerry pulling back means he knows he is losing.
Who loses this one first? That is, who says something that can be played and replayed by the media as a sign of being “out of touch”. For those that have counseled aggression, instead there will be conservation – avoiding of any word that can be taken out of context. Both candidates will speak like movie reviews – even one word can kill them, so every word will ooze message. If they attack, they will pan, if they pander, they will gop on the praise in globs and blobs.
The serious people have made up their mind about this election, now comes the sideshow version of the campaign, where both candidates become caricatures, not from the media, but by and for the media.
- Rebecca Danner checks in from a stint at a campaign phone bank.
I dreaded the idea of phone banking and only reluctantly signed up but, to my surprise, it ended up being a lot of fun and I really feel like it makes a difference. When I told people about it the next day, I found that most of them had the same reservations and questions that I had going into it so I thought I’d write up a quick FAQ to encourage everyone out there to give it a try.
- Randy Paul chortles over the fissures appearing in the previously monolithic South Florida Cuban vote.
- Robert Sam Anson displays boundless cynicism about the campaign press corps.
