Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Five Is Not Enough

Friday September 8, 2000

The Reuters/Zogby poll released yesterday shows Al Gore with a 5.4 percentage point lead over George Bush, which many news organizations rounded UP to six percent. Before people begin running into the streets holding their babies up to the gods in panic, let's take a deep breath, go to our happy place, get centered, and chill.

Al Gore, after the best 21 day run in his political history -- maybe in anybody's political history - has a lead in this one poll which is barely outside the margin of error and is totally dependent upon holding onto an unsustainable 32 point gender-gap.

I guarantee you that when the post election stories are done, Gore campaign people will say they really needed an 10-point lead in this poll which might well have been the political equivalent of escape velocity. Five points gets Gore to the stratosphere, but doesn't get him into orbit.

According to the Zogby poll, Gore leads among women voters by 21 points 54-33. Bill Clinton's best showing against Bob Dole was only plus 16 in 1996 - and that was BEFORE we knew about Bob and the whole Viagra thing.

For a look at the Zogby analysis, go here.

As the day wore on yesterday, the news for the Gore team got worse and worse. They went from five points plus in the Zogby poll to only three points in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released in the early evening, to a lead of zero in the Washington Post/ABC poll released at about 10:00 pm last night.

To see the snapshot of the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll (and the Mullings Catchy Caption of the Day), go here.

To see the Dan Balz/Richard Morin analysis of the Washington Post poll, go here.

The Mullmobile headed north to Wilmington, Delaware the other day to check out the campaign skills of Dick Cheney. Cheney gave a decent speech from a prepared text but reports of his campaign skills being rusty were not borne out by the pretty slick way he handled the Q and A.

A question about the United Nations (which was stated thus: "What about the United Nations?") brought a fairly smooth discussion on the need to keep US soldiers under US control, but reminded the crowd of the value of the UN in holding the coalition together during the Gulf War.

The Lad was the lead advance person at that event, but that had nothing to do with the decision to make the four hour up-and-back drive. It was purely motivated by editorial concerns.

The Bush/Cheney campaign, at the suggestion of communications director Karen Hughes, has hired Juleanna Glover-Weiss to be the press secretary for the Cheney tour. Juleanna was Steve Forbes spokesperson during the primaries and is one of the young, rising stars in this game.

Here's an interesting wire story from the Department of Health and Human Services: "HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala announced today that 23 local networks of health care providers, hospitals, community health centers and local governments have been awarded about $22 million under a new federal program designed to improve access to health care for uninsured Americans."

The Clinton/Gore Administration has allowed people in 22 States to go uninsured because the Federal Government didn't provide the funds to properly inform them? Pardon me. Isn't this exactly the same sin which, according to the Gore campaign, George W. has committed in Texas?

Department of Health and Human services were probably discussed during one of those iced-tea breaks.

Speaking of Al Gore looking the other way, which administration has been in control of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the past seven years? Would that be the Clinton/Gore administration? Al must have ordered his limo to pull into the old rest stop when the Firestone tire situation was being discussed.

Get me David Kendall on the phone! A Reuters report out of (where else?) London suggests a new defense for Bill Clinton in his upcoming legal troubles when he returns to Arkansas. According to a piece by Patricia Reaney, "A rare, poorly understood and often misdiagnosed brain injury is causing sufferers to lose control of a hand so it behaves as if it has a mind of its own�Dubbed the "Dr Strangelove Syndrome" �anarchic hand sufferers have one hand that performs against their will."

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