"With the race in West Virginia being one or two points difference between the two candidates -- and with the number of newly registered voters -- we are 110%t a swing state," said Amy Shuler Goodwin, who is with the West. VA Kerry campaign. "It's hard to trust the polls that show Bush ahead because some likely voters, particularly young voters, are hard to reach by telephone, Goodwin said. 'The polls aren't taking into account the number of newly registered voters,' she said. 'So it's hard to put your finger on how many people will be voting for anyone in this election. There are a lot of people who are hard to find. 'I wouldn't be surprised if John Kerry [wins] by five or six points.' "

Kerry now leads Bush in PA 50% to 47%. However, this lead is probably MUCH larger because the weighting is based on voter turnout in past elections. However, all evidence points to a VERY different turnout out this time. There are more young voters/first time voters than for any other past four elections. And, as an estimated 60% of these new voters are predicted to vote Kerry, we predict that the vote in PA will probably be closer to 54% Kerry, 46% Bush - if not wider.

MILive: "A poll for The Detroit News by Mitchell Research & Communications found 46 percent of likely voters questioned supporting Kerry and 40 percent supporting Bus, with 12 percent undecided, supporting others or refusing to say." Now remove the 'weighting' (using registered instead of likely voters) and mix in first time voters and the historic break of undecideds away from the incumbent and you have Kerry ahead by a HUGE margin - probably similar to what the polls in Miami-Dade County Florida are showing - (56% to 43% Kerry lead). "Another poll released Friday of 600 likely Michigan voters for the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune and WSBT-TV found 50 percent backing Kerry and 46 percent backing Bush. Nader drew 1 percent support, with 3 percent not stating a preference."

Miami Herald: "If the latest Miami Herald poll is correct, the road to the White House no longer runs exclusively through Little Havana, it now winds its way through the streets of Wynwood and Allapattah and Homestead. And if that's true, President Bush is in trouble.The Herald poll shows Sen. John Kerry winning Miami-Dade County with 54.3 percent of the vote to 41.5 for Bush. Four percent are undecided. Splitting those undecided voters down the middle, Kerry goes to 56 percent, Bush to 43 and Ralph Nader will end up with less than 1%." However, Daily Kos recently observed that in every presidential race in which incumbents have a sub-50% approval rating, undecideds have ultimately broken for the challenger. This means that it is very likely the final split may be closer to 60-40!

Campaign Extra! reports: "A new Daily News/CN8 Keystone Poll...shows that John Kerry leads Bush by five points among likely voters (49-44) and among registered voters (51-46)....Bush's appeal to fear -- as dramatized by the "Wolves" TV ad -- is just not working. The voters who are most scared about another terrorist attack are voting for Bush. But those [Chickn Littles] are only about one-quarter of the electorate.The majority of the PA electorate cares most about...the economy, health-care, or the war in Iraq. Bush really is becoming more and more like "the Spanish Inquisition" on Monty Python -- amongst their weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear (vote for Bush or the terrorists will kill you) , surprise (hey, October's not over yet), ruthless efficiency (ruthless, yes -- efficent, no), an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope (on abortion and stem cells, anyway), and nice red uniforms (ever see the women at a Bush rally?).

"Whoops!" We bet that's what the Bushies at ABC said when they let this one slip under the radar! ABC has in the past weeks gone so far to the right it is scary - with news spin that would make Rupert Murdoch blush. But even their best poll-padding efforts couldn't make their latest poll show Bush ahead or even in a dead heat with Kerry! Notice how they "qualify" this result - as if they were apologizing to the White House for failing to get the "right" results: After reporting the results - " The telephone survey of likely voters from Oct. 21 to Oct. 24 showed 49 percent would vote for Kerry and 48 percent for Bush" - they immediately add: "Similar polls released by ABC during the previous three days showed Bush with 49 percent and Kerry with 48 percent. "

This poll, which like all other conventional polls, does not reflect new voters (which some people say accounts for millions of votes across the nation) is weighted ("likely voters") and commissioned by a conservative paper. So, given all this usual bias, as the poll shows Kerry ahead 48-47%, we can safely assume that he is in fact ahead by 50-45% or more. Some political observers say that indications are the margin is even wider.

AFP "George W. Bush approval rating in the fight against terrorism dropped below 50 percent this month for the first time since the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to a poll out. Bush's approval rating on that question was 62 percent last month, 58 percent in August and 56 percent in June. With less than two weeks to the November 2 election, the Pew Research Center poll of 1,307 registers voters showed Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry tied at 45 percent among registered voters and at 47 percent among likely voters. Those numbers were a net gain for the Massachusetts senator, who had trailed in both groups earlier in the month. Pew director Andrew Kohut [said]..."In particular {Kerry] has virtually erased Bush's advantage for honesty and having good judgment in a crisis."

Note how this A.merican P.ropaganda article, while having to announce the poll results, still opens the article with what amounts to a "well, Bush may STILL have a chance" apologia. "President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are locked in a tie for the popular vote, according to an Associated Press poll. Voters seem open to change in the White House -- most disapprove of the president's performance at home and in Iraq -- but still harbor doubts about making the switch. In the AP-Ipsos Public Affairs poll, the Democratic ticket of Kerry and Sen. John Edwards got support from 49 percent of those who said they were likely to vote, and the Republican team of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney." Now, take AP's usual bogus weighting (their 'likely voters' are heavily - and unfoundedly - weighted to Repugs) and you will find that Kerry's lead is actually closer to 10 points.

Sidney Blumenthal writes: "The polls, nearly all showing a dead-even race, fail to account for the new voters, who have no past records. They do not measure those for whom a mobile is their main phone - 6% of the population - who will vote Democrat by a margin of two-and-a-half to one. The Democracy Corps poll, however, filters in newly registered voters. Four months ago, the newly registered made up only 1% of the sample. One month ago, they comprised 4%. Now they are at 7% and rising. And they will vote for Kerry over Bush by 61% to 37%. Bush's job approval has fallen now to 47 in this poll; presidents below 50 always lose. Bush has not campaigned in Ohio for three weeks, though he plans to stop there this week. Unemployment continues to rise in the state. 'There is no other explanation for his absence,' says Stanley Greenberg, Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign pollster, 'other than his numbers go down when he's there. His position on jobs is implausible.' "

This poll waxes wildly irrational in its convoluted efforts to try to make Bush look better. It is so internally inconsistent as to make one wonder why A.merican P.ropaganda would try to foist it off on the public (gotta give Brokaw, Woodruff, et al their unqualified soundbytes, we guess). For example, the poll announces that 7 in 10 people think replacing Bush with Kerry would be a "risk." This is an example of a non-question pretending to be a real question - afterall, walking out the front door is a RISK! Then we are supposed to believe that while Bush and Kerry are tied 47-47, and only 44% approve of Bush's job right now (the lowest of his presidency!), that 2 out of 3 think Bush will win....HUH?

Bloomberg: "Bush and Kerry are in a statistical tie in Florida, the state that decided the outcome of the 2000 race, a Mason-Dixon poll shows. Bush is supported by 48 percent of 625 likely voters interviewed by telephone Oct. 14-16, while Kerry, the four-term Massachusetts senator, is backed by 45 percent. The results are within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points." However, as Mason-Dixon is always heavily Bush-skewed, with its "likely voters" over-weighted with Republicans, we bet that, stripping away the weighting, you will find that Kerry is now ahead by a comfortable margin.

Despite the ongoing assault by corporate media polls designed to keep advertising (the endless Bush infomercial of network news) and campaign dollars pouring in, the state by state figures show a very different story indeed. "A Washington Post poll shows Kerry with a significant lead in important states that could decide the outcome of the election. The poll found Kerry held a 53% to 43% lead among likely voters in 13 such states." In fact, the state by state polls show Kerry with a steadily increasing lead and it is hard to find evidence of any "dead heat", let alone a Bush lead.

Bloomberg: "Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry moved into a tie with George W. Bush in the latest Reuters/Zogby tracking poll of likely voters. Bush and Kerry, the four-term senator from Massachusetts, each got 45 percent in the survey of 1,211 likely voters taken Friday through yesterday. Seven percent were undecided, and 1 percent said they support independent candidate Ralph Nader. Kerry has gained on Bush in the running Zogby poll in recent days. Bush led Kerry by four points, 48 percent to 44 percent, in tracking polls Oct. 12-14 and Oct. 13-15. The lead narrowed to two points, 46 percent to 44 percent, on Oct. 14-16. The margin of error in each poll is 2.9 percentage points."

"Pollsters are good at what they do, but do they have the right to stereotype citizens and potentially skew an election with their forecasts? I don't think so. I have had enough of their influence, enough of their political ads that presume that I don't have common sense and will believe everything that is said. What is important to me right now is my right to vote and my vote count . . . the right to matter in this election."

ABC doesn't even pretend to conduct honest polls any more. They frankly admit that their pool of "respondants" contains 38% Repugs to 30% Democrats (even tho' more Dems than Repugs have voted in the past three electons). But even ABC couldn't pad their poll enough to make Bush the winner of Oct. 13's debate: 42% to 41%. If they had an honest sampling - or even an even Repug-Dem mix (34-34), Kerry would have won 46% to 37%. Why are the networks padding polls so outrageously? One source tells us its to dupe Bush's corporate sponsors into believing he will win in Nov. -- to keep their campaign dollars flowing.

With the increased use of cell-phones and caller ID and the influx of voter registrations, pollsters may get a bigger surprise than Dubya did when John Kerry clobbered him during the debates. Even veteran pollster John Zogby has said his best assumption is that this election is Kerry's to lose. Maybe the November surprise Election 2004 will be having to wait until ALL THE VOTES ARE COUNTED before we know who wins!

Boy, something must have gone terribly wrong in Bogus Poll Land! Because we are sure this poll showing such an advantage for Kerry would never have slipped out if it hadn't! Not to worry, Newsweek - which is owned by the Washington Post, which is "owned" by the Pentagon - and the other poll frauds have taken care of that since. "Sixty-one percent of Americans who watched the first presidential debate on September 30 say Sen. John Kerry won; 19 percent say President George W. Bush won and 16 percent say they tied, according to the latest Newsweek Poll which was conducted after the debate ended. Fifty-six percent say Kerry did better than they expected; 11 percent say so for Bush. Thirty-eight percent say Bush did worse than expected; 3 percent say so for Kerry, the poll shows."

Boca Raton News: "Republican pollster Frank Luntz reported [in his] focus group of 18 voters, five switched to the senator from Massachusetts and none switched to President Bush [and the Zogby International polling firm confirmed] the nation's six million undecided voters - less than 10 percent of the electorate, but significant in a close race - are expected to make [poll] numbers fluctuate.... 'The swing voters who watched the first debate were not swayed either way and it's going to take them some time to get off the fence, [b]ut that will change. Historically, these debates tend to be significant for the swing voters.' [Polls by] Gallup, ABC News and CBS News found Kerry ahead by as much as 16 percent on the question of who won the University of Miami debate on homeland security.... Sixty percent of viewers polled by Gallup believed Kerry was more articulate."

The National Organization for Women reports: "George Gallup, Jr., is an evangelical Christian who said in a speech earlier this year: `The most profound purpose of polls is to see how people are responding to God' and `When I ask a question on these subjects, what I'm always trying to find out is: Are we doing the will of God?' Recent polls of likely voters conducted by The Gallup Organization have substantially over-sampled Republicans and under-sampled Democrats and women, overestimating the support for Bush. Time/CNN and USA Today--two of the country's most prominent news organizations--routinely commission and report (and thus legitimize) Gallup's poll results." NOW asks supporters to contact Time/CNN and USA Today to protest the use of The Gallup Organization's election campaign polling data until Gallup can prove it has eliminated such biases from its data sampling.

Believe it or not, one in five voters (at least according to an AP poll - ahem!) describe themselves as "persuadable" - as in people who, even after a national disaster, recession, and two wars, have STILL failed to absorb enough information to have an opinion. Perhaps through the undaunted efforts of a small handful of honest journalists, enough FACTUAL info will seep through to these people before Nov. 2. for them to realize that their country is being run by a lunatic.

Several professional (and HONEST) pollsters have reported that the few media polls that have actually allowed the public to see their methodology have been revealed as near-fraudulent, if not fraudulent under most definitions (intentionally seeking to deceive for gain - and believe me, the media will GAIN by Bush in the White House thru tax breaks, deregulation, etc.). Demand to see a DETAILED DESCRIPTION of the methodology behind the media polls! Under polling ethics guidelines, it is a serious breach of ethics for pollsters to refuse to provide this information.

Have you noticed how the MEDIA polls have all bumped up Bush's lead this week before the debates, while honest polls continue to show Bush and Kerry in a dead heat? This is no "accident." An insider [hey, if FOX can make all its sources anonymous, so can we!] says the Bush campaign and the media are using manipulated polls to achieve three objectives: 1.Create the illusion of Bush momentum, using the GOP convention as the pretext for a sudden (and completely phony) surge; 2. Keep less motivated voters away from the polls by convincing them Kerry doesn't have a chance; and 3. Make it more plausible &/or acceptable to name Bush the winner of both debates, even if he does nothing but drool on the microphone. To this we add: Having eliminated a vote paper trail, the BushMedia cartel want it to seem more plausible when Bush steals the election at the polling booths.

Back in the run up to the final election in which Chirac faced rightwing warmonger Le Pen, polls proved to be so far off that the polling companies were taken to court, "The polls were such a massive turnoff, so consistently certain that the second round run-off would be between Mr Chirac and Mr Jospin, that few bothered to vote," a result that allowed a near-Neo Nazi to make it to the final run off. And even before the final run off, the polls were off, with some showing Le Pen with 25% on the eve of the vote - he actually got 17.9%, with Chirac wining 82% - thanks to the massive turnout of young people. But in France, as in the US, the rightwingers, for whatever reason, end up being overrepresented in polls - by hook or by crook

AFP: "According to the latest Harris Interactive poll posted on The Wall Street Journal's website Thursday, Kerry secured 48 percent of the intended vote, compared with 47 percent for Bush. Independent candidate Ralph Nader garnered two percent of the hypothetical vote. A slim majority of respondents (51 percent) said they do not believe Bush 'deserves to be re-elected for another four years,' compared with 45 percent who said they do, according to The Wall Street Journal. " So, if you "correct" this poll for the usual mainstream manipulations - restore the Democrats shaved off through 'likely voter weighting,' then account for the huge poll of uncounted under-30 cell phone users, we estimate that the actual tally is more like Kerry 52%, Bush 43%, This agrees with informal "mall and checkout line" spot polls reported to us.

"A new IBD/TIPP poll put Bush and John Kerry in a dead heat, suggesting Bush's post-convention bounce is quickly disappearing. In IBD/TIPP's first poll of likely voters, conducted Sept. 7-12, both men garnered 47% in a two-man race and 46% in a three-way race. Among registered voters, Kerry holds a two-point edge over Bush, with or without Nader, the poll found. IBD/TIPP defines likely voters as adult Americans who say they are very likely to vote in November, have a high level of interest in the presidential election and have voted in every or nearly every presidential election." HOWEVER, the actual statistics show that MORE Democrats than Republicans have actually voted in the last few elections, rendering the IBD weighting system pretty fishy. Bush's lead in Rasmussen's daily tracking poll is down to 0.7 points.

Check out this highly accurate, consistent presidential tracking poll by Rasmussen. Looks like Bush's big 9/11 exploitation bid over the weekend, and the White House bid to discredit CBS backfired rather badly, while John Kerry's outrage at Bush must be resonating big time with the American public. While Kerry gained over a point over the weekend, Bush lost more than a point. The current status: Bush 47.2, Kerry 46.4.

Rasumussen Reports: "Friday September 10, 2004--The Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows President George W. Bush with 48% of the vote and Senator John Kerry with 46%. The Tracking Poll is updated daily by noon Eastern. This is the first report based entirely upon interviews conducted after both the Republican Convention and the holiday weekend. Looking back, the Friday after the Democratic National Convention, Senator Kerry was ahead by an identical 48-46 margin.At Rasmussen Reports, we greatly appreciate your interest in our work. The number of people visiting our web site has greatly exceeded all expectations. It has also put a strain on our web server...We are working right now to increase our server capacity and expect to have the situation resolved in a few days. In the meantime, we thank you for both your interest and your patience."

Marlon Manuel of the Palm Beach Post writes: "Fewer people are responding to pollsters. Twenty years ago, nearly seven of every 10 people telephoned by a pollster completed the survey. Today's gold standard approaches five of every 10, though it's not uncommon to have completion rates of just two in 10. 'The advance of telemarketing has also hurt polls severely, as citizens are increasingly using answering machines to screen calls or are simply unwilling to answer to phone,' says Paul Gronke, a polling expert at Reed College in Portland, Ore. 'Once they do answer, many are unwilling to talk.' A pollster we know reports that the people most likely to take the calls are older, retired people (more likely Bush voters) while the least likely to respond are under 30-- the cell phone crowd (more likely Kerry voters). Our pollster friend added: 'There are many ways to manipulate results without technically committing fraud."

US Newswire: "A just-released survey demonstrates that despite a four-year effort, GOP attempts to woo the Jewish vote for Bush have failed, with likely Jewish voters preferring Senator Kerry over Bush by a whopping 75-22 percent margin. Among the poll's major findings:-- Senator Kerry's lead is as strong as the American Jewish vote was in 2000 for then-Vice President Gore over then-Governor Bush; respondents voted in 2000 for then-Vice President Al Gore over then-Governor Bush by a margin of 76 percent to 21 percent. American Jewish support for Senator Kerry is extremely solid. Fully 78 percent of Kerry supporters indicated that there is "no chance" that they will vote for President Bush, while only 52 percent of Bush supporters are solid in their support." So much for Bush's attempt to define American Jews as rightwingers and Zionists!

A.merican P.ropaganda, caught spinning headlines and story text to downplay Kerry's advantage as he pulls ahead in the polls, is now trying a new tactic-- not mentioning the numbers. So they can state that Kerry has "a slight lead" in several key battleground states without the reader knowing (for example) that the "slight lead" in Florida is actually SEVEN points!. This is unprecedented for poll numbers to be omitted from articles - but this is the current tactic of AP and NY Times -- make statements without any supporting evidence, attribution, or qualification and call it "reporting." Btw - to offset the dozen polls showing Kerry leading Bush across the nation, Pollsters for Bush (also known as Gallup), released yet another fudged poll showing Bush, against all logic and reason, still ahead! Gotta have something to back up rigged results in Nov, eh?

AP: "Democrat John Kerry has taken a slight lead over President Bush in Florida - the essential swing state in the 2000 election, according to a poll out Thursday." LOL! The "slight lead" is actually 47-41%! In A.merican P.ropaganda speak, 6 points in Kerry's favor is a "slight lead," while 2 points in Bush's favor is a "surge in support"! "The August poll found Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, getting tepid reviews from Floridians. They were evenly split on whether they approve or disapprove of the job the second-term governor is doing. The survey also found fewer than half, 47 percent, were "very confident" that their vote would count. Only one in five said the same about new touch-screen voting machines that will be used this year in 15 of the state's largest counties."

As we have observed, AP, Gallup, and CNN polls cannot be trusted. They all use a "weighting" system and other "voodoo" (which includes arbitrarily "skimming out" results, according to one former pollster) that always makes Bush come out on top or as near to a "dead heat" as they can make it and get away with. We have developed a "correction algorithm" for undoing their weighting system and unskewing the results. Roughly, it works out to adding 5 points to the results for Kerry and shaving off 5 for Bush. The result, a poll that is probably pretty accurate and jibes with the majority of other polls. So, as the lastest AP survey shows 43% of Americans say Kerry would do a better job of protecting the country, while 52% say Bush would, the corrected results work out to Kerry 48% and Bush 47%, which we bet is just about right on..

The most pro-Bush polls out there today - to the point of outright fraud - is the Gallup/CNN "polls." These polls are not only wildly inaccurate (Gallup esp.), but "weighted" (as CNN "explained" recently) in a way that blatantly favors Bush. They are routinely timed to coincide with news events that could either help Kerry or hurt Bush. Thus, the day after Kerry accepted the nomination, the Washington Post ran a version of this Bush fantasy poll on its main page (a layout probably planned well before the convention). Meanwhile, just about every other poll out there shows Kerry now leading Bush with double digits with Nader not figured in, and by 6-9 points with Nader. We invite any Gallup/CNN pollster with a conscience who wants to blow the whistle to come forward with info, in the name of American fairplay and honesty.

Zogby: "The collection of state polls, conducted July 19-23, shows Mr. Kerry leading, 275 to 220, with three of the 16 states in the collection - Florida, Missouri, and Nevada - excluded from the count. Florida is an absolute dead heat; while Missouri and Nevada are razor-thin advantages leaning toward Mr. Kerry. All three states were won by Mr. Bush four years ago. Even without considering the votes from those states, Mr. Kerry still has enough support in the Zogby model to win the Presidency. In a fourth state, for instance, Mr. Kerry leads in Tennessee by less than two percent, and Mr. Bush's lead in Ohio is very tenuous [two non-Zogby polls from last week show Kerry ahead in OH]." After the incredible power of the DNC in Boston, we can't wait to see the post-convention polls!

Bloomberg: "Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has a 5 percentage point lead over George W. Bush in Ohio, while Bush leads by 4 points in Florida, a USA Today poll found. The candidates are tied in Missouri. Kerry leads 48 percent to 43 percent in Ohio, a state Bush won by 4 points in 2000, the survey of 639 likely Ohio voters found. In Florida, Bush leads 50 percent to 46 percent, a poll of 699 likely voters shows. The candidates each have 47 percent of likely voters supporting them in Missouri, the poll, conducted July 19-22, found. " A spate of polls released in the past week show Kerry leading both in Florida and Missouri, so we suspect some poll cherry-picking was going on here to soften the huge Ohio blow to Bush. Also, notice how this "summary" of swing states also "accidentally" omits PA, where Kerry has a double-digit lead when Nader is not factored in. In short, the article hides the real story: Bush is in deep trouble.

FOX: "A poll shows if the election was held today, Democrat John Kerry would win by a small margin in Florida -- where he's campaigning today. The Research 2000 poll says Kerry leads President Bush 47 percent to 44 percent in the Sunshine State. Independent candidate Ralph Nader has about three percent of the vote, and six percent are undecided. There's a margin of error of plus or minus four points, which means really it's a dead heat between Bush and Kerry. The results show Nader potentially takes away crucial votes from the Democratic ticket, as the party claimed in 2000. In a two-way matchup, Kerry leads Bush 49 percent to 44 percent. The telephone poll of 600 likely Florida voters was conducted last week for two Florida newspapers."

AP: "Democrat John Kerry holds a 10-point lead over Bush in Pennsylvania, and a slight lead in Oregon [what a hoot! AP calls an 8-point lead "slight"], polls released Friday said. In Pennsylvania, a key swing state won by Democrat Al Gore in 2000, Kerry was up over Bush by 48% to 38%, while Nader was at 5%, in a state poll conducted by theLA Times (state polls show the same thing) .In Oregon, Kerry led Bush 50 -42%, while Nader had 4%, according to a poll by the American Research Group. Gore narrowly won Oregon in 2000.In Florida, a Mason-Dixon poll [the Bushiest of the Bushies of pollsters!] found Bush at 48%, Kerry at 46%. Funny, two Florida Newspapers found Kerry leading as of 7/24, 47-44%.

Just about all polls aside from the Republican fantasy world offerings pandered by AP (A.merican P.ropaganda) now show Kerry ahead of Bush nationally by 3-5 points with Nader considered -- and by 6-13 points with Nader removed (he is only on the ballot in a handful of states so far). The latest Time poll (July 20-22) shows the same pattern, with Kerry leading 46-43%. Take away Nader's 5% (all polls adjusting for Nader show that he takes votes almost exclusively from Kerry) and you have Kerry with a whopping double digit lead - BEFORE the convention, which is predicted to add at least 5 more points to Kerry.

As we pointed out earlier, CNN is now adjusting its poll results to pad Bush's results. In their last poll, they described it as "weighting." In this one, they call it the difference between everyone polled who was registered to vote and "likely voters." Of course, they adjust the results to make Bush voters twice as likely to vote as Kerry's - and don't alter Nader's results at all! But in the "unweighted" results, Kerry leads Bush 47%-43% with Nader 5% So, even though Nader isn't likely to be on the ballot in more than a few states - CNN counts his votes as "likely"! 'Course if they didn't, Kerry would be leading Bush 52-43%!!

From the rightwing NewsMax: "Voters in the battleground state of Missouri are torn between President Bush and Democrat John Kerry, according to a poll published Thursday that shows the candidates about even. The Massachusetts senator is ahead in the poll, 46 percent to 44 percent, but that is within the margin of error of 4 percentage points. Independent Ralph Nader was supported by just 1 percent, with 9 percent undecided. Bush carried Missouri four years ago, winning its 11 electoral votes with 50 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Democrat Al Gore. Both campaigns have concentrated heavily on Missouri this year, with Bush coming to the state again this week, a day after a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney. With one exception, Missouri has voted with the winner of every presidential election since 1900. No other state has that record of accuracy."

You will notice that in this AP (A.merican P.ropaganda) report, Kerry's 5-point lead is described as "slight." Gee, just a few weeks back, Bush's one-point lead was being described by AP and other media minions as 'Surging ahead." : AP:" Democrat John Kerry has moved into a slight lead in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, according to a poll taken just after he chose his running mate. The Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday found Kerry was backed by 46 percent of voters, President Bush by 41 percent and independent Ralph Nader by 5 percent." And this is after Bush's THIRTY campaign trips to PA!

When Bush had, a while back, inched ahead of Kerry by one measly point, the mainstream media's headline blared "Bush surges ahead!" Now look at the headline on this CNN story reporting that Kerry has pulled ahead by FOUR points!: "Poll Finds Apparent Kerry Lead in Close Contest." More comical still, this poll was WEIGHTED (for the first time!) so that Kerry's lead was cut down. The actual poll result was 51% to 44%. What a hoot! Who do these media minions figure they are fooling at this point?

This American Propaganda (AP) poll, started on July 5 (before the Edwards announcement) and finished the day after - i.e., before Kerry had any decent media coverage), is, in essence, a Bush ad disquised as a "poll report." It's main thrust is the main thrust of most Bush ads - Bush is "decisive," Kerry "flip-flops." But what this story reveals inadvertently is just what sort of people actually DO view Bush as decisive: AP:" 'The quality I like about the president is he knows what he wants, and he focuses on what he wants to do. He's not wishy-washy,' said Sam Werzberger, a 26-year-old independent from NYC, who hasn't decided for whom he will vote." Which brings to mind that great SNL skit about the "undecided voter" - who after FOUR YEARS, still hasn't absorbed enough information to see the forest for the trees!

The mainstream media has tried hard to play down Edwards' addition to the Kerry ticket, disseminating poll results obtained just hours after the decision was announced and declaring that Edwards was no help to the ticket... As any HONEST pollster knows, the impact of any event or decision does not show up in polls for 7-10 days, sometimes longer. Even Abu Ghraib didn't register full force for nearly two weeks. So now, a Newsweek poll a week after the decision reveals a marked gain for Kerry - up to 51% to Bush's 45%. Of course, the story also has to throw in the latest GOP Fantasy Island bit - that Colin Powell would boost Bush's ticket by 10 points.

"John Kerry leads George W. Bush among likely voters in New Mexico according to a survey by the American Research Group. A total of 49% of likely voters say they would vote for Kerry if the presidential election were being held today and 42% say they would vote for Bush. A total of 3% of likely voters say they would vote for Ralph Nader and 6% of likely voters are undecided. In a race between just Bush and Kerry, Kerry leads Bush 51% to 43%, with 6% undecided."

Even as AP and other corporate media pander skewed polls (no doubt to support the skewed results they hope to achieve through rigged voting machines in November), state by state polls are showing a very different story. This July 9 Michigan poll shows Kerry way in the lead - 50-43%. Significantly, more Republicans are crossing over to vote Dem than there are Dems crossing over to vote Repug.

AP: "Americans are skeptical about the turnover of political control to Iraqis at a time the country has not been stabilized, according to a poll released Monday. By a 2-1 margin, Americans say the turnover of political control to Iraqis now is not a sign of success, but a sign of failure because the nation's stability remains in question, according to a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll. Still, three-fourths in the poll approved of the U.S. handover of authority to Iraqis. In the Gallup poll, six in 10 said the handover of authority at such an unstable point is a sign of failure, while about three in 10, 32 percent, said the handover of authority on schedule is a sign of success, according to the Gallup poll taken last week. Six in 10 said they think it is unlikely internal security will be established in Iraq in the next five years and slightly more, 63 percent, said they think U.S. troops will be in Iraq for another three years or more. "

Every time a new wave of polls shows Kerry surging ahead, Gallup/CNN can be relied on to grind out a poll showing Kerry either in a dead heat with Bush or lagging slightly behind. They have consistently been the least accurate poll going (tied with FOX)- including their projections for election 2000. This latest is no different, but shows the cracks in the facade widening. For example, how do you reconcile this: while the poll gives Bush 48% to 47% in the prez race, they ALSO say Kerry's favorability rating is 58% to Bush's 53% (we're supposed to thus assume most Americans are dopey enough to turn around and vote for someone they DON'T favor!). Meanwhile, 54% say the Iraq war was a mistake, while 55% say it has failed to make the world safer from terrorism (in a non-Bushie poll this would, we're sure, be even higher).

Guardian: "Bush and Democrat John Kerry remain locked in a tight contest in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state that Al Gore won by 4.2 percentage points in 2000. Kerry had the backing of 44 percent, Bush 43 percent and independent candidate Ralph Nader 7 percent in the Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. In May, Kerry had 44 percent and Bush 41 percent - a statistical tie. Bush had a slight lead in the state in April. In a two-way matchup, Kerry leads Bush 49 percent to 43 percent in the state with 21 electoral votes. "

The latest American Research Group poll shows Kerry leading Bush. This is despite a supposed rally by Bush since April - a 2-point bump up due mostly due to undecided Republicans deciding to fall like good little lemmings into the party line. But even when Nader is added to the mix, Kerry still leads Bush - very good news indeed! An important point: one of the largest pools of Kerry supporters - the 18-30 group - are also the most underrepresented in polls. A high percentage are cell-phone owners or have single traditional phones shared by several roommates.

This Harris Poll of 2,408 Americans is abysmal news for Bush - with a stunning 65% saying they believe things are getting worse in Iraq, while only 11% say they don't think so. But far be it from any corporate media arm (which most pollsters are) to present the unvarnished truth. To spin the descent from nearly 70% support of the war last year to just 47%, the report cheerfully points out that 47% "is, however, a clear plurality" (since majority no longer applies!). And how about this line: "While the numbers are not good news for the White House, and they are mostly the lowest, or worst, numbers we have recorded on all of these questions, they are only a fraction lower or worse than they were last month, before the news of Iraqi prisoner abuse had hit the media." Can't wait to see how they spin June's results!

Sandip Roy writes, "'Stunning' is the word everyone is using to describe the Indian electoral results. The verdict in India, however, didn't stun Indians. It stunned the pollsters, who had all confidently predicted that the ruling BJP coalition would return to power. The only question was the margin of victory. Watching the steady drip of Kerry-47, Bush-45 American polls here, I realize how much juice opinion polls suck out of the electoral process, becoming in the end self-fulfilling prophecies. At a time when elections seem to turn into a mere validation of the opinion polls, there is a sense of cheeky delight in how an electorate can actually hoodwink the pollsters."

In five polls taken between May 10-18 - with reaction to Abu Ghraib and other revelations only just beginning to fully emerge and Kerry's campaign not yet in full swing (May 22 is the official kick off), five mainstream polls now show Kerry leading Bush. Being mainstream polls, we suggest you add 5-10 points to Kerry's totals, to compensate for the inevitable tweaking these pollsters do to squeeze points out for Bush. Some predict that by summer, the GOP -- smelling certain defeat -- may well be offering John McCain the nomination instead of Bush. Stranger things have happened...

The corporate pollsters have continually sought to shore Bush's approval rating up by hastily doing polls either right before or immediately after some new revelation (Woodward's interview, the Abu Ghraib scandal, etc.). Such polling does not capture the response of the public (which takes several days to register) and allows the mainstream media to then falsely trumpet "Bush approval unchanged by revelations" Now the latest polls are registering the unvarnished truth: Bush is on his way down. The latest Zogby shows Bush's approval diving 6 points - and this is a poll taken BEFORE the Abu Ghraib scandal has fully registered. Can't wait to see June's results!

"Other surprising findings were that almost half of respondents (46%) favor an independent investigation of the U.S. role in the overthrow of Haiti's democratically elected president, Juan Bertrand Aristide, and 57% favor a national moratorium on the death penalty because of the procedural problems that have put many innocent people on death row (112 released so far). Four out of five Americans also repudiate the use of torture. As in earlier Retro Polls most support for the war in Iraq and the War on Terrorism was found among people who still think that Saddam Hussein worked with Al Qaeda and among the 32% of people who believe the War on Terrorism is preventing terrorism. However, 24% of Americans believe that the War on Terrorism is actually creating terrorists. In addition, 56 % of people who gave an opinion say the War on Terrorism is removing important democratic rights in the US and large percentages (50-80%) oppose various intrusive provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act."

Check out this headline: Japanese PM gets thumbs-up from 63% of Japanese. Sounds like the PM's backing of Bush and the Iraq war hasn't hurt him at all, eh? Well, take a closer look! The choices for those polled regarding their opinion of the PM were: Very Favorable, Somewhat favorable, and disapprove. This is a classic spin tactic - there's no "somewhat unfavorable" category, which puts ALL middle of the road opinions into the "thumbs up" category - totally misleading! Turns out only 9% have a "very favorable" view of the PM, while a whopping 35% disapprove. Quite a difference! In addition, instead of saying "More than half of respondents said they did not want the PM to run again," they phrased it like this: "Almost half" said they "hoped" the PM would continue to run the country! Bottom line: more than half of the public wants him OUT! In short, how Bush! We bet Koizumi also claims to "never pay attention to polls!"

Young America is mad as hell at Bush and this poll proves it - though its propagandist authors did not intend for this to be its effect. To the contrary, AP-IPSOS, Bush's personal polling outfit apparently, tried to label this "Vanishing Kerry voters." But the poll in fact shows that nearly TWO-THIRDS of young voters do not support Bush. In fact, the only reason Kerry has lost support is because they don't think he sends a strong enough message to Bush: 11% back Nader. However, with Nader removed from the field, most will opt for Kerry, as the same poll shows that in several months, despite aggressive campaigning, Bush has gained barely 1 percentage point (and AP probably had to massage hard to get that!). In other words, youth haven't deserted Kerry for Bush - their dislike for Dubya remains unchanged.

Want evidence of collusion between the White House and the media? There have been 12 (count 'em!) presidential preference polls by major polling outfits released since April 1. All but four show Kerry with a substantial lead over Bush. Yet guess which two polls are being carried all over the corporate media, dominating news search engines, and otherwise being overpublicized? Yep, the pro-Bush fudged polls, including the two from the biggest White House colluders among the corporate media: AP (All Propaganda) and Pentapost (euphemistically known as the Washington Post). Here are all but two of the polls (LA Times and New York State Polls not listed here): read 'em and weep, Dubya!

What a hoot! When the nation's most accurate polling organization, Zogby, released the latest poll on Bush and Kerry showing Bush losing ground steadily, the corporate media suppressed it big time - progressive sites had to dig through google and ask.com to find it. And, ever so predictably, within 48 hours of three major sites posting these results, the Pentapost-ABC "Pollsters for Bush" released an overnight wonder showing a miraculous "reversal" of positions between Kerry and Bush. As Bush grows more desperate, expect an "overnight wonder" poll from now on every time Bush's numbers DROP.

For years now, Gallup hasn't been able to poll its way out of a paper bag, while Zogby has been consistently right on the mark, including being the closest of all pollsters in their predictions of election 2000. So while Gallup goes off into wishful fantasies in a poll showing Bush leading, Zogby's poll shows not just a lead by Kerry over Bush for weeks in the face of a Bush media blitz, but a steady erosion of Bush's support, from 46% to 45% to 44%. Perhaps most significantly, in terms of how the nation sees Bush's regime, 54% of moderates of both parties say they will vote for Kerry versus 34% for Bush. It is clear Bush is increasingly recognized for what he is: a rightwing extremist.

Corporate pollsters, who for so long were able to tweak and tug Bush's approval rating enough to keep it just above the critical 50% mark, have given up the ghost on his approval ratings - the highest they can tug it now is 43% (which means it's probably at about 35% or so). Now they are turning their "polling magic" to a new Bush-protective front: the public's opinion on Bush's invasion of Iraq. This, of course is a critical question as the 9/11 hearings heat up. So now according to this poll we find, quite miraculously, that even though 60% of Americans disapprove of Bush's handling of Iraq, 57% think it was just dandy that he attacked the country, Yeah, right! We expect to see a flurry of polls along these lines in the near future.

"The latest CBS News poll, conducted Tuesday through Thursday, shows declines in the president's approval ratings in a number of policy areas, but especially changes in the evaluation of the president's handling of terrorism. Six in ten Americans are following the hearings closely; 56 percent say the administration is cooperating with the panel. But what the administration is saying does not receives high marks: 59 percent say it is hiding something it knew before Sept. 11, and 11 percent even say it is lying. Only one in four think the administration is telling the entire truth."

"Voter approval for Bush's handling of homeland security has fallen since former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke questioned Bush's commitment to fighting terror before the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a Newsweek poll. The survey found 57% said they approved of the way Bush had handled the war on terrorism and homeland security, down from a high of 70% two months ago." But is Clarke the only reason for the two-month slip? We doubt it. In any case, this poll was taken too soon after the Clarke bomb dropped to indicate just how much impact Clarke will have. It is no accident that several corporate polls were slapped hastily together BEFORE the critical weekend of March 27-28, a two-day period during which Clarke's revelations and Rice's refusal to testify really began to hit home. A very large internet poll on the 28th at MSNBC showed that just 41% of pollees would now vote for Bush in November.

The Guardian: "Republicans fear the devastating revelations about their failure to see al-Qaeda as an imminent threat before the 11 September terrorist attacks have seriously dented Bush's election campaign. Pollsters Rasmussen put Democratic challenger John Kerry three points ahead of Bush by 47 points to 44. That dramatically reversed a four per cent Bush lead just a week ago. The pollsters put the change down to the fallout from Clarke's claims. At the same time respected firm Zogby logged Bush's approval ratings as slipping to an all-time low of 46 per cent." The big breakthrough here for Kerry is that, thanks to Clarke, Americans are seeing just how Bush operates: through character assassination and lies.

Here's the poll figures released by the Washington Post/ABC poll: Kerry 48%, Bush 44% and Ralph "My Ego Means More to me than My Principles" Nader 3%. Of course the actual, untweaked poll figures probably run something like Kerry 55%, Bush 35% and Nader .5 %. When even the poll fudgers can't fudge Bush into an edge, you KNOW he's in trouble. Worse for him, "The only policy area in which more than 6 out of 10 respondents supported Mr Bush was on the 'war on terror', while the two candidates were virtually tied on Iraq, gay marriage and civil liberties." As to the "war on terror" numbers - Bush support there is plummeting almost daily as people awaken to the reality of how much less safe Bush policies have rendered the world.

Ruy Teixeira writes, "The political views of Democrats and independents are converging on one another and pulling away from the Republicans. In other words, it's not just that Democrats and Republicans are becoming polarized against one another - the conventional wisdom - but that Democrats and independents (two-thirds of the electorate) are becoming polarized against Republicans. For Republicans who are inclined to see anomalous recall elections and victories in Mississippi as harbingers of realignment, this news couldn't be more discouraging. And, for Democrats everywhere, it's very good news indeed. The Pew study shows Democrats and independents converging in their declining support for an assertive national security policy, in their increasingly negative views of their personal financial situation, in their growing worries that a prescription drug benefit for Medicare won't go far enough and in their increasingly skeptical attitude toward business."

Despite the media's MEGA-hyping of economic good news, "Bush's lead against the five leading Democratic contenders-Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, and Richard Gephardt-has shrunk to a low of 4%, vs. 6% a month ago. [That's 1% shy of a statistical tie with 3% MoE]. Dean continues to poll best against Bush, with 45% of respondents saying they would vote for him, compared to 49% for Bush. In a race against Clark, Bush would win 48% of the vote vs. 45% for Clark. [Hey Newsweek - that's 1% edge for Clark over Dean. Duh.] Among contenders for the Democratic nomination, Dean and Clark remain in a statistical dead heat, with 16% and 15% respectively selecting them as first choice for Democratic nominee. 9% would select Gephardt, followed by Lieberman (8%), Mosely-Braun and Kerry (7% each), Al Sharpton (4%) and Dennis Kucinich (2%). [Hey Newsweek - why did you scrub Edwards?] The narrowing of Bush's lead may be due to an increasing pessimism about U.S. efforts in Iraq."

Wesley "Clark, a retired Army general, garnered 49% support to Bush's 46%, which is essentially a tie given the poll's [3%] margin of error. The CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll was conducted Sept. 19-21, beginning two days after Clark announced he would become the 10th Democratic candidate... Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut also were tied with the resident, while Bush held a slight lead over former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri. In the head-to-head confrontations, it was Kerry at 48% to Bush's 47%; and Bush's 48% to Lieberman's 47%. Bush held a slight lead over Dean, 49-45%, and had a similar advantage over Gephardt... Among voters who are Democratic or lean Democratic, Clark led all Democratic candidates with 22%, Dean had 13%, Kerry and Gephardt 11% and Lieberman 10%."

"So does the public really think Saddam was behind 9/11? Depends on how you ask the question. As reported in a recent Washington Post story, when asked whether it was likely Saddam 'was personally involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks', 69% said it was very or somewhat likely. But that figure's pretty soft. A much better question fielded by the Program on Int'l Policy Attitudes asked for the 'best description of the relationship between the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein and the terrorist group al-Qaeda'. 7% said there was no connection at all; 31% said a few al-Quada individuals visited Iraq or had contact with Iraqi officials; 35% said Iraq gave substantial support to al-Qaeda but was not involved in 9/11; and just 21% [thought] that Iraq was directly involved in carrying out the 9/11 attacks. In other words, only about a fifth of Americans really seem to believe that Saddam was involved in 9/11. That level of belief is bad enough...But it's better than 7 in 10."

Joe Conason writes: "Even on a dark anniversary, there is always a politician lurking somewhere whose antics can provide some amusement. Proof came in my e-mail this morning from a kindly Capitol mole. The mole sent me a copy of 'Fall Communications Environment,' the funny memo dispatched yesterday by Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Republican Conference, to all of her GOP colleagues. Having verified its authenticity with a helpful member of Pryce's staff, I think parts of it are definitely worth sharing -- especially because it provides insight into what Republicans really worry about behind the usual partisan bluster."

"Americans express a growing suspicion that the war in Iraq will boost rather than ease the long-term risk of terrorism against the United States, a concern that directly challenges Resident Bush's rationale for invading. This finding of a new ABCNews poll follows continued attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and on civilians elsewhere in the world, and marks a sharp turn in public attitudes. A week after the fall of Baghdad, 58% of Americans thought the war would reduce the long-term risk of terrorism. Today that's down 18 points, while 48% - up 19 points - think the war has raised the risk. At the same time, the number of Americans who say the war was worth fighting has slipped to 54% - a new low, down from 61% in mid-August and a high of 70% as the main fighting wound down.... The poll also found a drop in approval of his handling of the situation to a new low, 49% -- down from 56 percent last month and 75% on April 30, a day before he declared the major fighting over."

Joe Conason writes, "A glance at recent polls reveals that Bush's 'huge' popularity, when not propped up by war, is quickly returning to ordinary levels. More significantly, Bush's 'reelect' numbers have again dropped below 50% in most surveys, which is where they have languished during most of his presidency. For instance, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows him with 47%, or a couple of points less than he got in the 2000 election. The Ipsos-Reid/Cook Political Report poll taken two weeks ago shows him at 43%. The CBS News/New York Times poll gives Bush 34%, the unnamed Democrat 21%, with 56% of independent voters undecided. Whatever their opinions about war and terrorism, voters are presently more worried about the economy, with good reason. The Philadelphia Fed survey of economists released earlier this week cut growth forecasts sharply, as unemployment continues to rise. First-term presidents with that kind of economic record don't usually get a second term."

"With U.S. casualties mounting, the [3-26-02 CNN/Time] poll suggests the collective stomach for American casualties is limited. While 59% say they would support a war in which 500 U.S. troops died, support falls to just 47% and opposition to the war rises to 41% if the U.S. death toll rises to 1,000. Only 34% would support the war if as many as 5,000 Americans die, with 50% opposed if that happens. More than 50,000 American troops died in the Vietnam War. A plurality of Americans would not support a war in which 5,000 Iraqi civilians were to die. In that event, opposition to the war rises to 47%, against 40% in support. Even 1,000 Iraqi civilian deaths is too high a price to pay for many Americans, with just 50% willing to support such a war and 39% opposed under those circumstances." As of 4-1-03, 500 Iraqi civilians have died. Americans don't want a "real" w-ar - they want a bloodless coup.

"Americans say the war in Iraq will last longer and cost more than they had initially expected, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. The shift comes as the public absorbs the first reports of allied setbacks on the battlefield. Americans who said they expected a quick and successful effort against Iraq dropped to 43% on Monday night from 62% on Saturday. And respondents who said the war was going 'very well' dropped 12 points, to 32%, from Sunday night to Monday night, an erosion that followed an increase in allied casualties and the capture of several Americans. The poll also found an increase in the respondents who fear an imminent retaliatory terrorist attack on American soil, now that images of the allied assault on Baghdad have been televised around the world, though two-thirds of respondents said the nation was adequately prepared to deal with another terrorist strike."

Karl Rove wants Americans to believe we're all thrilled with the W-ar. But even the corporate elite is opposed, as this BusinessWeek poll shows. "42% felt that the Bush Administration's decision to attack was justified, vs. the 56% who thought it wasn't... More than 60% think that the conflict will have become too bloody if the number of deaths of Iraqi citizens, and of U.S. and British soldiers, reach beyond a few hundred [the current count is at least 200]... 67% saying terrorist attacks will become either more likely or much more likely."

Americans have been subjected to an endless propaganda campaign of warmongering in every news outlet, yet 35% still believe UN weapons inspectors should have been given more time. 59% said the onset of hostilities has increased the threat of terrorism against the United States and only 8% thought the risk has decreased.

Zogby reports, "Support for a war against Iraq has slipped back to 54%, and opposition has increased to 42%, according to a poll of 1,129 likely voters conducted March 14-15 by Zogby International. Support was 57% and opposition was 40% in similar polling March 5 - 7. Both polls have a margin of error of +/- 3%. 'When the president [sic] appears before the public to make his case, support moves up slightly,' noted pollster John Zogby. 'But support quickly slips back down, and it's part of a steady pattern we're seeing. Opposition has been creeping up since early February, and is now at 42%.' Support for a war has decreased with the scenario of hundreds of American military casualties, with 47% opposing, compared to 46% who support a war under that condition. During the Persian Gulf War, 146 Americans were killed. Opposition is even stronger (50/43) when the possibility of thousands of American casualties is mentioned."

Releasing its latest NYT/CBS poll, the NY Times proclaimed: "Growing Number in U.S. Back War, Survey Finds." But the actual data presented by CBS tells a different story. Astonishingly, 45% think Saddam was "personally involved" in the 9/11 attacks, which is utterly false. But many Americans think it's true because Bush has intentionally kept Americans confused. Yet even though so many believe Saddam is responsible for 9-11, Americans continue to favor "giving inspectors more time" rather than "take military action soon" by 52%-44%. Only 23% think Iraq is the most important problem facing the U.S., compared with 35% who say the economy and 32% who say terrorism. 40% think W-ar will make the economy worse; only 21% think it will make the economy better. 55% think W-ar would make terrorism increase, only 12% think it would decrease. Only 52% are confident Bush will make the right decision, while 46% are "uneasy" (how about "terrified"?). And Bush's job approval dropped another 2%.

"By a 48-44% margin, American voters say they would vote for the as yet unnamed Democratic party candidate for President over Republican incumbent George W. Bush, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Hampered by Americans' dissatisfaction with life in the U.S. and concerns about war and the economy, Bush has a 53-39% approval rating, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds. Only 9% of American voters are 'very satisfied' with the way things are going in the nation today, with 35% 'somewhat satisfied;' 28% 'somewhat dissatisfied,' and 26% 'very dissatisfied.' In an open-ended question allowing for any answer, 31% of American voters list war with Iraq as the most important problem facing the U.S. today, followed by 27% who list the economy/unemployment and 14% who list terrorism/security." Bush has squandered all of the massive goodwill from September 11. If he starts bombing Iraq to boost his poll numbers, it's impeachment time.

WashPost reports, "A majority of Americans believe the United States should work to gain the support of the U.N. Security Council even if it means delaying war with Iraq, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The survey found that 56% of the public is willing to wait in order to win U.N. endorsement of U.S.-led military strikes against Iraq. Another 39% said the United States should 'move quickly,' even without the Security Council's backing. Overall support for taking military action against Iraq stands at 63%, down slightly from 66% in a Post-ABC poll conducted two weeks ago. Half the country continues to believe the United States should move against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein even over the objections of the United Nations, unchanged from earlier this month." That last number is 50%-46%, which means America is deeply divided - and would be split in two if Bush declared W-ar. Hey WashPost/NYTimes - are you listening to the American people?

WashPost reports: "The major television networks and the Associated Press decided Monday to dissolve the Voter News Service exit poll consortium but have not yet reached agreement on a replacement plan to survey voters on election day. VNS employees were told at a meeting Monday that they had been laid off immediately and the consortium, which includes the AP, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC, will be disbanded. Many reportedly were angry that they had been given no formal notice, VNS sources reported." Will the Networks wait 'til all the votes are counted? We can only hope!

Poll #6 results:
Howard Dean 170
John Kerry 170
Hillary Rodham Clinton 87
Dennis Kucinich 67
John Edwards 57
Russ Feingold 55
Jimmy Carter 53
Bob Graham 52
Ann Richards 52
Bill Bradley 50
Nancy Pelosi 49
Wesley Clark 47
Tom Harkin 45
Maxine Waters 43
Molly Ivins 38
James Carville 36
Jim Jeffords 35
Ralph Nader 33
Joe Biden 31
Bill Moyers 30
Robert Redford 30
Martin Sheen 29
Dianne Feinstein 28
Jim Hightower 28
Paul Krugman 28
Tom Daschle 27
Bob Kerrey 26
Dick Durbin 25
Michael Moore 25
Paul Begala 24
Jesse Jackson Jr. 24
George Mitchell 24
Gary Hart 23
Robert Byrd 21
Joe Lieberman 21
Debbie Stabenow 20
Bill Richardson 19
Susan Sarandon 19
Jesse Jackson Sr. 18
Jon Corzine 16
Dick Gephardt 16
Kweisi Mfume 14
Gray Davis 13
Warren Beatty 7
Greg Palast 7

Cast your vote in poll #7!

Every election, the media - and candidates - spend a fortune on polls to tell us how we the voters are going to vote, or how (and why) we voted (or stayed home). How accurate are these polls? The National Council of Public Polls examined 159 pre-election polls - and 22 (14%) had the wrong winner! The worst was Zogby International, which did 17 polls in 12 states and had five incorrect winners - a 30% error rate! Telephone polling is now a complete scandal, since the only people who pick up the phone for pollsters are senior citizens with time on their hands. Pollsters can't reach cellphone users, and the rest of Americans have unlisted phones, sign up for "do not call" lists, or use caller ID or telezappers to screen out unwanted calls. Polling should be abolished - the only way to determine the will of the people is to count every vote!

Newsweek writes, "People were divided on whether GOP control of Congress and the White House was a good or bad development. 30% said it was a good thing, 34% said bad, and 29% said it made no difference. By a 51-40% margin, people thought more will get done in DC over the next 2 years because of the GOP control of Congress. Just over half said they were concerned GOP will move the country too far in the conservative direction - with 28% saying they were very concerned. 63 percent said they were at least somewhat concerned that GOP will push through tax cuts that will increase the budget deficit. Almost 4 in 10 of those who voted GOP said they were concerned. Asked what policy should be a top concern for Congress, people were most concerned about providing affordable prescription drugs for older people, 80 percent said it should be a priority." Looking at the title of this story, the media's distortion of Bush's support never seems to end.

"Arkansans' votes in the U.S. Senate race Tuesday will decide a key skirmish in the Republican-Democratic battle for control of the Senate and of the national agenda. U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson, the Republican nominee, and state Attorney General Mark Pryor, the Democratic nominee, have waged the most expensive political race in Arkansas history. It also has been the most relentless - commercials, direct mail and outside surrogates touting or tearing into the candidates have inundated Arkansans' senses. In the closing days of the campaign, Arkansans were being courted by the president, the vice president, a former president, a slew of senators, even the head of the National Rifle Association." writes the Arkansas Dem. Gazetter. This is very exciting news in keeping the Senate!

Gallup reports, "Americans have become more pessimistic about the war on terrorism than at any point since military action began in Afghanistan in October 2001... These results were measured on Oct. 14-17, during a week in which Americans were exposed to news stories reflecting the aftermath of the terrorist bombings in Indonesia, warnings from the CIA director and others that Al Qaeda is regrouping and planning new terrorist acts, and continuing discussion of issues revolving around the threat posed by Iraq and Saddam Hussein... In October 2001, some 42% of Americans said the US and its allies were winning the war on terrorism, 44% said neither side was winning and 11% said the terrorists were winning... [Now] the number perceiving that the US and its allies are winning the war on terrorism has fallen to 32%, the lowest reading of any of the 12 times the question has been asked [while] 21% of Americans say the terrorists are winning, which marks the highest % giving that response."

As Steve Cobble points out, George W. Bush's numbers, contrary to GOP spin and media puffery, are no longer at some "historic high." The truth is, the son has now fallen down to a more mundane plateau - in early October his numbers were almost identical to his father's! Surprised? In the first week of October, George W. Bush polled no higher than his father did at the same point in his one and only term. George W. Bush (#43) job approval, CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, 10/3-6/2002: 67% approve, 28% disapprove. (Among likely voters, it was 64% approve, 33% disapprove.) George H. W. Bush (#41) job approval, Gallup Poll, 10/3-4/1990: 66% approve, 25% disapprove. And what happened in November of 1990? The Democrats won 9 House seats. Paul Wellstone won his Senate seat in Minnesota. (Note: the Investor's Business Daily/Christian Science Monitor poll shows Bush's approval at only 55%, with 32% disapproval.)

"A majority of Americans say that the nation's economy is in its worst shape in nearly a decade and that...Bush and Congressional leaders are spending too much time talking about Iraq while neglecting problems at home, according to the latest NYTimes/CBS News poll. The poll found signs of economic distress that cut across party and geographic lines. Nearly half of all Americans are worried that they or someone in their household will be out of a job within a year. The number of Americans who said they believe the economy is worse than it was just two years ago has increased markedly since the summer. The number of Americans who approved of the way Mr. Bush has handled the economy - 41 percent - was the lowest it has been in his presidency. Many people said they worried that a war in Iraq - which most Americans view as inevitable - would disrupt an already unsettled economy...nearly two-thirds...said they wanted to give the UN more time to try to send weapons inspectors into Iraq."

Remember Al Gore's speech last week calling on Bush to focus on the economy instead of war? "A majority of Americans say that the nation's economy is in its worst shape in nearly a decade and that Bush and Congressional leaders are spending too much time talking about Iraq while neglecting problems at home, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll... 'Bush is spending way too much time focusing on Iraq instead of the economy, and he's doing it as a political move,' said Gladys Steele, 42, a homemaker from Seattle who is a political independent, in a follow-up interview yesterday. 'He thinks keeping us fearful about going to war will distract us from how bad the economy is'... Democrats had hoped that the turmoil on Wall Street and reports of corporate malfeasance would give them an issue to use against Republicans. The poll found that nearly half the respondents thought that Mr. Bush was more interested in protecting corporations than in protecting ordinary Americans."

Hey Bill O'Reilly - here are some more poll numbers for you from the ABC News/Washington Post Poll: #1) By a 52%-40% margin, Americans said they were more concerned that Bush might move too quickly on Iraq rather than not quickly enough. #2) Americans felt the country was off on the wrong track by a 53%-43% margin. #3) A majority, 53%, said Bush needs to spend more time on the economy. Even more, 58%, said he needs to spend more time on other domestic issues like health care, education and Social Security. Since Americans are worried about Bush's (as William Safire has put it) dictatorial powers, 56% said they preferred to see Democrats in charge of the next Congress to act as a check against Bush. In contrast, just 34% said they preferred Republicans in charge to support Bush's agenda.

This article, first published last April, is truer now - and the findings more critical for Americans to know - than ever. "In short, polls do not represent: the very poor, people in armed services, people on Indian reservations, in hospitals, in nursing homes, in group homes, drug rehab centers, most roommates in a roommate situation, people with unlisted numbers, those with caller ID who do not accept unknown calls, people with telemarketer/survey fatigue (a growing percentage), people who live alone (especially women), elderly, urban young people (a growing percentage of whom have cell phones). So basically, what we have even on a good day in telephone poll land, is a tendency for results to be weighted toward white, higher income conservatives and away from low income groups, especially urban minorities. But even if everyone possible could be reached, the way questions are worded helps skew polls away from true public opinion."

"'Do believe the US should take action against Saddam Hussein?' Talk about a loaded and all but meaningless question!!!! I mean, who in their right mind does not believe action should be taken against Saddam? But action is a word as wide as the Persian Gulf, and can range in meaning from economic sanctions to intensive diplomatic talks, from weekly UN inspections to daily US bombing. Another question asked in the same poll was 'Do you favor unilateral action by the US against Iraq.' The results of the poll showed that while 69% favored action against Saddam, only 31% favored any action unsupported by allies. Yet what part of this poll do we hear trumpeted on the evening propaganda fests?'" So writes Cheryl Seal.

John Judis and Ruy Teixeira write, "Long before George W Bush [stole] the 2000 presidential election, his chief political adviser, Karl Rove, was predicting to reporters that a Bush victory would produce a historic political realignment. This new Republican majority would resemble the one William McKinley built roughly one century ago... In Rove's mind, September 11 has reinforced the parallel: Bush's war on terrorism is the political equivalent of McKinley's Spanish-American War... Rove is half right... he is correct that this era will produce a majority party that dominates American politics for years to come. It just won't be the GOP. To the contrary, ever since the collapse of the Reagan conservative majority, which enjoyed its final triumph in November 1994, American politics has been turning slowly, but inexorably, toward a new Democratic majority -- evident in Al Gore's popular-vote victory in 2000."

Ruy Teixeira writes, "The special consideration shown to Bush by the public is eroding rapidly. Since that deference has been the GOP's bulwark against public outrage from the wave of corporate scandals, that's a very significant development... Nothing more vividly illustrates this deterioration than... the [Washington] Post poll. Respondents were asked whether Bush cares more about protecting the interests of ordinary working people or about the interests large business corporations. By 50% to 37%, the public said he was on the side of the large corporations. That's a complete turnaround from two weeks ago, when the public thought Bush was on the side of ordinary people by twelve points. It's also the reverse of how the public currently feels about the Democrats: by 49% to 37%, they feel the Democrats are on the side of ordinary people. [Bush's numbers are] comparable to his results on the question before 9-11. A return to normal in this respect is anything but good for Bush."

Steve Cobble has analyzed the latest poll numbers, and finds cause for worry in Iraq and Colombia. "At least three things about these numbers will worry Karl Rove a great deal: (1) the continuing decline in the Shrub's job performance rating; (2) the President Select's below-50% re-elect numbers - remember the rule of thumb - an incumbent running for re-election with re-elect numbers below 50% is in some trouble - and 42% is well below 50%; (3) the 'right direction/wrong direction' poll numbers have always been regarded as a good shorthand indicator of how well an incumbent is really doing - and the current numbers are poor, with a down bullet. To steal Frank Rich's perfect image, just 'wagging the dog' may not be enough to distract a worried nation from all this mess - the President Select is going to have to 'unleash the whole kennel' this time. As they used to say in the 1950's nuclear weapons drills: Duck and cover."

"By more than two-to-one, Americans believe the Bush administration is more concerned with protecting the interests of big business rather than ordinary Americans, according to a New York Times/CBS News survey. Americans' growing mistrust of Corporate America and heightened scrutiny of the administration's ties comes in a crucial congressional election year. Two-thirds of those polled, and more than half the Republicans surveyed, said business interests had too much influence in the Republican party. Fewer than half of those polled said business had too much influence in the Democratic party, according to the Times poll...When asked about President [sic] Bush's dealings as a former director of Harken Energy, 48 percent of those polled said they believe the president is hiding something, another 9 percent believe he is mostly lying, while 17 percent think he is telling the truth, the Times reported."

"Americans worry that President [sic] Bush and his administration are too heavily influenced by big business, fear that Mr. Bush is hiding something about his own corporate past and judge the economy to be in its worst shape since 1994, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll shows. The survey suggests that the unfolding revelations about corporate misconduct and inflated earnings hold considerable peril for the White House and Mr. Bush's party in this Congressional election year. Not surprisingly, Democrats sounded particularly troubled about the administration's handling of the corporate issue, but even Republicans shared many of the concerns. By more than two to one, the poll's respondents said the administration was more interested in protecting the interests of large companies than those of ordinary Americans... Two-thirds of all respondents, and slightly more than half of Republicans, said business interests had too much influence on the Republican Party."

The ludicrous myth of Ronald Reagan is that he made it "morning in America." Sure - just like he balanced the budget (not!). But after a year and a half of Bush, optimism is becoming impossible to find. "For months, the nation has been barraged with revelations about the FBI not heeding terrorist warnings, Catholic priests abusing children and winning protection from bishops, and accountants fudging the books for corporations. As a result, polls show that many Americans now doubt those entrusted with their money, their safety and their faith." So reports Knight Ridder.

Mainstream polls are heavily weighted to the right for many reasons, including organized blitzes of polls by Freepers. Now, mainstream media pollsters like Gallup and CBS are treading water to keep Bush's approval ratings artificially resucitated. The Washington Post is trying to "pre-smear" the inevitable truth. Zogby, one of the most accurate pollsters out there (he came closest of all pollsters to accurately predicting the popular vote in the 2000 election) has been slandered by the Post's Richard Morin. Morin implies that Zogby's efforts to help researcher Rob Kampia determine American views on marijuana is just one big dope fest, and that all left wingers are part of the party. The idea: discredit any and all of Zogby's polls - especially those showing Bush bottoming out as Election Day approaches. As always, the only way the rightwing can sell itself is with smoke, mirror, and smears.

Right now the Bush administration is spinning like a circular saw to avoid responsibility for 9/11. The first to hit the buzzsaw is the FBI, which is blamed by 58% of Americans for preventing 911. But even more Americans - 59% - blame the CIA. And nearly as many - 54% - blame Bush's top advisors (that's YOU, Dick and Condi!). And 46% blame BUSH. Hey George - time to start writing your resignation letter, before the truth comes out about how much you really knew - and why you sat listening to a children's story while thousands died... (See the action page at legitgov.org for upcoming anti-Bush protests.)

"Two-thirds of Americans think the Bush administration is hiding something about what it knew before Sept. 11, while just over a fifth think the administration is 'telling the entire truth,' a CBS News poll released Tuesday said...Almost half think Democrats' questions to the White House about its handling of the Sept. 11 attacks are appropriate, and a third disagreed...By a narrow margin, 43 percent to 30 percent felt the Bush administration is hiding something the public needs to know."

The Democracy Corps, a Washington-based progressive think-tank, recently conducted a study which "revealed a shift away from foreign policy concerns and towards a growing focus on domestic issues. Driving those concerns were Enron, the future of Social Security, healthcare and the environment...recent scandals surrounding Enron, Wall Street and the accounting industry have begun taking a toll on GOP support...issues...important to voters were accountability, health care, Social Security, protection of 401K retirement plans and the environment - all strong Democratic policy areas... Another bone of contention among voters, the study found, was the Republican-backed 'stimulus' bill that contained a 15-year retroactive tax cut for corporations. Enron - which paid no taxes during most of that period - was in line for a $254 million tax refund. The measure was defeated by House Democrats. But, the effort by House Republicans to pass such a measure did not go unnoticed by voters."

The headline of this bogus story proclaims: BUSH RETAINS STRONG SUPPORT. But click on "Complete Poll Data" on the right and you will see a VERY different story. Just 48% say they strongly approve of Bush's job - the same 48% who voted for him. Meanwhile, the percentage that only "somewhat approves, somewhat disapproves, or strongly disapproves is 49% - hardly the glowing mandate that the headline would like you to believe. You will also notice that the article does not mention this little detail: That a whopping 56% of all polled said Bus & Co. should be investigated for 9/11. Instead, they leave out the specific number and vaguely say "a majority." Also - check out the bizarre wording of the last question and the lack of a "somewhat worse" category!! Pass this on to let others see firsthand how polls and their associated articles are rigged.

David Morris from Bloomberg.com writes, "Americans' satisfaction with the direction of the country is at its lowest point of George W. Bush's presidency [sic], giving Democrats an edge as they battle for control of Congress... 'He was the big beneficiary of the rally-round-the-flag boom Now he's paying the price for a sort of general decline,' said Evans Witt, president of the polling firm." In 15 months you have ruined our country Mr. Bush. It's time to step down and let the person who really won the election take over!

"Public satisfaction with the way things are going in the U.S. is at its lowest point of George W. Bush's presidency, giving Democrats an edge as they battle for control of Congress, a Bloomberg News poll shows. The number of voting-age Americans saying they're satisfied with the country's direction was 46 percent, down from 51 percent when Bush's term began and 15 points below December's peak of 61 percent... The mood six months before congressional elections reflects concerns about an uneven economic recovery, including a jump in the unemployment rate to 6 percent, as well as violence in the Middle East... 'People tend to punish the incumbent White House party when they are unhappy... And they are unhappy. They're disappointed that conditions are not significantly better.' Women and older people are most displeased. While 52 percent of men are satisfied with the direction of the country, only 41 percent of women feel that way."

It's easy for Bush to grab a supposed 63% approval rating if the questions are worded in his favor. But look at this (albeit unscientific) Excite.com poll that asks you to grade Bush with an A, B, C, D, or F. Look at all of the F's!

Fascinating results from the latest Zogby poll: Bush job performance rating drops to 69% - four points lower than Bill Clinton's approval rating immediately after being impeached in 1998! Gore soars into strong lead for 2004 Democratic nomination (46%-7% for Tom Daschle); Democrats take lead in 2002 race for Congress (36%-30%); 58% say Israel should leave occupied Palestinian territories (29% say Israel should stay); 83% believe Mideast bloodshed will spread to other nations, Latest Zogby America Poll reveals

According to the official poll numbers, Bush's approval rating has slid from nearly 90% to the mid-70s [as low as 69% per Zogby]. However, as we all know, these poll result figures have been grossly and systematically inflated since Sept. 11 when the administration took full control of the media and anyone failing to express approval of Bush was suspected of subversive activity. Although a climate of intimidation has had a lot to do with the skewed poll results, there are many other reasons why the results of just about any telephone poll (the favorite method for the big pollsters) these days are skewed in favor of conservatives." So writes Cheryl Seal in Unknown News.

You probably haven't seen any polls about Bu$h lately - and here's why: a recent poll by American Research Group shows Bu$h's approval dropping to 62%, down from 74% in January. And despite claims by economists that the recession is over, 71% say we're still in a recession. Before long, Bu$h will be right where he was on Election Day 2000 - below 50%.

Steve Cobble, the director of the Campaign for a Progressive Future writes that "the view must be fine for George W. Bush. With his job-approval rating at 84 percent, he stands atop Mount Gallup. But GWB would be wise to remember his father, GHWB, who crashed rapidly after his post-Gulf War approval peak -- 89 percent in late February 1991. A year later, the father's rating had tumbled 50 points, and less than six months after that it bottomed out at 29 percent. Approval-wise, the War on Terrorism has been good for the son. But as pundits gawk in awe, the voters who didn't vote for Bush (that would be most of them) might take heart, and those that did might take caution, from the experience of Bush the Elder: the pull of political gravity cannot long be defied. There are clouds scattered across GWB's fine view that are gathering into a storm."

The pundits routinely declare that B%$#'s approval ratings are 85%-90%. But they are lying, because B%$#'s polls peaked during the bombing of Afghanistan in October, and have dropped ever since. "A new Zogby America poll shows President [sic] George W. Bush's job performance rating at its lowest level [73%] since September 11th. Another 25% rate him fair or poor... On September 4th, his job performance was only at 50% positive... Regarding disagreement between prominent Democrats like Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle and the White House over the tax cut passed last year, 46% prefer rolling back the tax cut while 44% oppose it [and] voters more strongly favor rolling back the tax cut if it means more money for government programs." Americans have NEVER supported the B%$# agenda, which is why he LOST the election. As the truth comes out about Enron and 9-11, the only way B%$# will keep his polls from collapsing will be to pick another country to bomb - a TRUE wag-the-dog scenario.

A new poll shows that Bush is getting further and further out of step with American voters. The overwhelming majority of voters polled believe that raising the minimum wage and fighting poverty are the best economic stimulus plans (no mention at all of a tax cut to corporations!). In fact, 77 percent of voters across all demographic groups favor increasing the minimum wage from $5.15 to $8 an hour to bring low-income wages up to a fair rate. Minimum wage workers earn 37% less than their counterparts did in 1968, adjusting for inflation. The poll, conducted in January, found that "the economy and jobs" are the biggest concerns of voters, followed by education and retirement/Social Security. The war on terrorism was not even in the top three. This poll shows that come Nov. 2002, and later, in 2004, Bush's artificially inflated "approval rating" will get popped like the hot air balloon it is!

According to this USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, Americans are paying close attention to Enrongate, and they consider it FAR more important than Pardongate or Whitewater. They think Enron execs committed crimes, and think the Bush administration did something illegal or unethical. (Unlike the Republican media, Americans remember Bush's promise to restore "honor and integrity" to the White House, and to impose the strictest ethical standards.) They think Congressional Republicans are more tainted by Enron than Democrats - mostly because the Democrats are letting Republicans get away with denouncing the shady business practices that REPUBLICANS legalized! Americans also think top executives are just as corrupt at some or most other companies - which means Americans want radical changes in ending corporate corruption.

"An analysis of the 2000 results shows that a couple of polling outfits that present their findings on the internet and mainstream as non-partisan, are obviously biased, and that their polls for 2002 and 2004 should be questioned. Other mainstream media polls in 2000 were not too wrong, especially if you look at only their final numbers, but taking a look at their cumulative findings, a bias emerges. Overall, the bias in the polls is built into the data, in the sense that they enable the myth that the US voter is turning more conservative, when the facts clearly show the opposite. That the Bush team is chasing a shrinking, over-weighted in the polls, conservative minority is not the news you'll be likely to hear from the media going into 2004, but it's true." So reports MyDDdotcom.

"Talking heads currently marveling at the alleged love affair between the people and George W. Bush, given his 82% approval ratings, need reminding that wicked Bill Clinton flirted with equally stratospheric figures. Exactly four years ago, just after his 1998 State of the Union speech and soon after the Lewinsky story broke, Clinton hit 79% in a Wall Street Journal survey. His numbers were almost that good after House Republicans voted to impeach him. Obviously, Clinton's numbers didn't reflect approval of his actions, but anger at his enemies' ruthlessness. Similarly, Bush's lofty polls derive mainly from patriotism and support for the campaign against terrrorism rather than widespread belief that he's the second coming of Abe Lincoln or FDR, and certainly not from unquestioning assent for GOP save-the-millionaires economic and social nostrums." So writes Gene Lyons.

According to the Corporate Media, Americans WORSHIP Bush, right? Wrong!! Bush's job approval rating has already dropped from 92% to 80%. Yet despite his high popularity, only 48% say they would vote to re-elect Bush! This is amazing, because political professionals consider ANY incumbent with a "re-elect" under 50% to be in deep doodoo. And in Congressional races, Americans prefer DEMOCRATS by 47%-41%. Here's the political analysis you won't hear from the Corporate Pundits: Americans "like" Bush in a next-door-neighbor way, but they think (correctly) that he is shallow, reckless, partisan, and a pawn of powerful and greedy corporations. To keep Bush in check, Americans will elect a Democratic Congress in 2002. And with the widening Enron scandal, exploding deficits, cuts in social programs, and continuing recession, Paul Begala is exactly right: "Junior is gonna fall faster than Enron stock."

The LA Times reports, "More college freshmen today describe themselves as politically liberal than at any time since the Vietnam War, a nationwide survey by UCLA researchers has found... "It's a real change, a broad-based trend toward greater liberalism on almost every issue we look at," said Alexander W. Astin, a UCLA education professor who started the survey, the nation's largest, in 1966... 29.9%--the highest figure since 1975--say they are liberal or 'far left.' The latter figure has risen steadily since 1996, said Linda Sax, an education professor and director of the 36th annual survey. But it pales compared with the peak year in 1971, at the height of the anti-Vietnam War fervor, when 40.9% of those polled called themselves liberal... A record 47.5%--three times greater than when the question was first asked in 1966--said they participated in organized demonstrations in the previous year." There's definitely hope for the future of American politics!

"The people we admire the most at MakeThemAccountable.com are those who stand up for their convictions, even when they know they will lose. The year of 2001 was rather bleak for courage, but there were a few individuals who showed that not everyone in a position of power has been bought by the corporate interests. We found it so hard to choose among them that we decided to pick four. These are the people we most admire for their attempts to save democracy during this past year." Click below to see these heroes!

Newsweek has broken the silence on Democratic anger. Let's send a message to Newsweek and the media by voting YES in the Newsweek webpoll. "Did the recount decision hurt the Supreme Court's credibility? (No) The ruling was a correct interpretation of the law. (Yes) The court's decision was obviously politically motivated." The poll is halfway down in the left margin. Speak up, Democrats!

Poppa Bush was a failed one-term President; yet Baby Bush's approval ratings lag behind even Poppa's weak standard. Note that the President-Select now trails his Dad by double digits in approval ratings, and has consistently lagged by double digits (more than 15%!) in disapproval ratings. The "Shrub Gap" - the margin by which Baby Bush's spread trails his one-term Poppa - is over 20%!

The Conventional Wisdom for the past couple of weeks is that Resident-Select Bush has gotten a bump in the polls, and the media sent him off on his "working vacation" with lots of puff pieces about his recent victories in the House. As always with the Shrub, however, there were some interesting, and largely overlooked items in those polls. For example: 48% of the respondents agreed that Bush had won "fair and square"; but 50% (fully half) did not! 33% of those polled felt that Bush had won "on a technicality", and 17% (1 out of every 6 Americans) were willing to tell pollsters that they believe that Bush "stole the election"!

According to Zogby, Bush's job approval rating is now in the red, with 47% approving but 51% disapproving. The White House was livid: "I dismiss it," declared Ari Fleischer. (Hey Ari - if we say "we dismiss you," can we make you go away? Hey, it's worth a try...) At this time 4 years ago, Clinton was at 50-48 (Zogby), 64-31 (ABC/WashPost), 61-28 (CBS), 60-32 (CNN), 58-34 (Gallup), 53-45 (Harris), 56-36 (NBC), 59-32 (Pew) - which is AMAZING, since the right-wing media never gave Clinton a day of peace. We predict Karl Rove will soon demand that the media stop polling - or switch to a more favorable question, something like this: "Isn't Georgie Bush just the cutest man you've ever seen in your WHOLE life?"

Although "About.com," the purported Internet equivalent of the encyclopedia/world almanac, is fast becoming just another conservative front site (considering how overstuffed the site is with rightwing propaganda - try a keyword "gun control" in the site and you'll soon see what we mean), we were surprised to find this poll result. The question: "What grade do you give the administration on its environmental polificies to date?" The response showed that out of 631 respondants (as of 7/27), 271 gave Bush an F, 105 gave him a D, 19 gave him a C and 22 gave him a B. The 214 who gave him an A are probably hardcore rightwingers - or the staff at About.com. We couldn't help wondering if the environmental editor at the site, one "Patrica Michaels," is perhaps in reality Patrick Michaels, a notorious anti-environmental author and corporate paid "science expert." For a truly disturbing sample of "Pat Michaels" writing (and remember - this is as the "unbiased" About.com environmental editor, a site widely accessed by kids) read http://environment.about.com/library/weekly/aa031697.htm. We will be investigating this site and About.com in general and reporting the result!

It's a wee bit odd that SUDDENLY, in the wake of Shrub's nosedive in popularity, a new poll by three corporate media outfits shows a huge rebound in Shrubmeister's popularity? In honest polls, the respondants' political bias is noted so readers know who the sample really represents. When results of past polls where political bias is stated are compared with this new poll, we'd say at least 60% of the new pollees are conservative to very conservative (60% of Americans describe themselves as moderate). While a large-sample poll of the general population (i.e., both liberals and conservatives) showed that a whopping 80% of all American think Shrub should pass a patients' bill of rights, the new poll says 51% approve of his veto-threat stance on the bill. Most bizarre was the claim that over 70% of Americans like and/or respect Shrub. And check out http://slate.msn.com/framegame/entries/00-02-15_74943.asp for how Bush team has abused polls in past.

Read this Washington Post-ABC poll carefully. You will note that in nearly every category, Shrub is losing ground with the public, esp. in energy and environmental areas. But pay special attention to the last Q, which reveals that over 50% of those questioned were either as conservative, or MORE so than Shrub - i.e., WAY to the right! This reveals two things: First, the overwhelming majority of the "random respondants" polled were ultra-conservative Republicans (hardly "random"), and second, if these conservatives are giving Shrub the thumbs down, just think what an honest, unskewed poll would show! It would soon be bye, bye Shrub!

Ever wonder why the polls on the evening news never seem to jive with what you and everyone you know seems to think (like the polls showing Bush with an inexplicably high approval rating)? Well, one poll called into question in Tennessee may shed some light on just how these results are "juiced." The favorable results of the poll were used to help make a case for a new state income tax. If a state poll can tweak the truth, just imagine what polls conducted or sponsored by the corporate media can - and are - doing!

"President [sic] Bush's approval rating has dropped from its honeymoon high amid rising concerns about the country's energy situation, but rising gas prices and West Coast blackouts are not the only reason for the decline in Bush's numbers, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. Bush's job approval stands at 53 percent, compared to 62 percent last month, according to the poll...Bush's decline was high among independents, suburbanites and parents -- all groups that have grown significantly more worried about energy." Interestingly, Americans see conservation and the development of alternative forms of energy as the leading solutions to the energy problem - and 57% oppose drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Like any classic abusive "parent," Bush has his codependent "family" of Americans well-trained. According to the latest AP poll, though two-thirds think his priorities suck and he is more interested in protecting corporations than in doing right by citizens and their environment, the same percentage still approve of the job he's doing, insist he's a nice guy, and love the way he handles crises (which he himself regularly inflicts!). Is there a Codependents Anonymous sponsor in the house?

"After approximately two months in office, George W. Bush’s overall job rating has slipped to a current 49 percent positive and 38 percent negative, with 13% of the public still undecided about his performance. Since The Harris Poll began asking this question in 1964, no other president at an equivalent point in his first term has had such a low positive standing...The fact that he is going down in the polls, regardless of the cause, may be seen as a sign of weakness. And if Bush’s popularity is truly slipping, then it will be more difficult for him to persuade at least the Democratic members of Congress to vote for his tax, education, and other initiatives." Did you hear that you Democrats in Congress? You don't have to be so "bipartisan" and wimpy. As Shakespeare once wrote: "Screw your courage to the sticking place!"

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Bush's disapproval ratings up 10% to 33%, the highest ever for a new President. Only 50% approve Bush's handling of the economy, compared with over 70% for Clinton. By 61%-31%, Americans overwhelming believe Bush cares more about protecting "large business corporations" than "ordinary working people." In terms of priorities, only 29% rank cutting taxes at the top, while 53% want improving education at the top, and 47% say "keeping the economy strong."