The St. Paul Pioneer Press shared the costs with Minnesota Public Radio for its poll so Mullings has decided to don its favorite pair of rose-colored glasses and go on record predicting the Bachelor Farmers of Lake Wobegon will break HEAVILY for Coleman and he will win this election.
A little-noted - but potentially huge - influence in the neck-and-neck New Hampshire Senate race is the vote for Governor. Republican Craig Benson is leading Democrat Mark Fernald 52-36. It is very possible that Benson will carry Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, John Sununu, across the line with him.
The Dean of American political writers, David Broder, and the Assistant Dean of American political writers, Dan Balz, teamed up on a curtain-raiser in the Washington Post which shed some considerable light on why the Dems are so nervous when the President shows up.
"No question he moves the numbers when he lands," one Democrat said. "He's the best tool the Republicans have. It takes us thousands of phone calls and door-to-door visits to stir up our base the way he can stir up theirs."
Inside Baseball Alert: That was SO Note-esque. I hereby publicly apologize to the ABC News team of
Halperin, Wilner and Ambinder for stealing their style. But it does save a broken arm patting myself on the back by
quoting them, quoting the Washington Times' Bill Sammons, quoting me.
To counter that, the Democrats have tried to raise the Presidential Success Bar by claiming unless Republicans win every election in every state President Bush has dropped into, flown over, or thought about, the press must say: This was a referendum on Bush policies and the people voted a resounding "No."
To quote, once again, that giant of 20th Century philosophical thought, Col. Sherman T. Potter: "Horse Hockey."
Here's a take on the President's travels. There is always a battle in the back offices of major political figures as to how to spend his or her "political capital."
If you want to play it safe, you help candidates who are close, but who you think will win anyway so you get credit for the visits, but don't take any blame for the losses.
If you want to play it down-the-middle you help candidates you think will win, but also help candidates who are behind in states (or areas of a state) you are going to need down the road.
If you want to put it all out there, you fire up the plane and go to state after state after state helping (earlier in the cycle) to raise enough money to keep hundreds of candidates in the game, and then come back late in the go to energize their supporters.
No matter what happens tomorrow in terms of the actual wins and losses, President Bush has set a new standard for rolling up his sleeves, working harder on behalf of his team, and - has this been widely reported? - not taking shots at individual Democrats, but making his case by talking in a positive manner, about why he needs more Republicans to get things done.
For your mid-term exam, compare and contrast the campaign style of President Bush, with the style of ANY major Democrat. Include Hillary Rodham Clinton Rodham's remark that President Bush was "selected, not elected."
According to the AP, by the time the campaign ends at Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, "he will have visited 17 cities in 15 different states in five days."
� 
