A Walk Down Memory Lane With President Kerry

As Hugh Hewitt and Clark Judge note the tightening polls, it seemed like a good time to recall how the media sought to convey the image of an emerging Kerry landslide four years ago.

Here's Susan Page in USA Today on October 31, 2004: "Across the dozen battleground states expected to determine the winner, Kerry holds a 5-percentage-point edge — including small leads among likely voters in the critical states of Ohio and Florida."

The CBC had this cheerful report on October 17, 2004: "[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 per cent to 43 per cent lead among likely voters in 13 such states." Note that the states being referenced included Florida and Ohio.

Finally, from a UPI piece on October 13, 2004: "Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry holds a slim lead over U.S. President George Bush in three key Midwestern states, a Chicago Tribune poll found.

In Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, the president's approval rating is below 50 percent, historically a warning sign . . . "

As we all recall, things didn't turn out quite how the media and the Democrats expected.