Politics Blog

Lost in many reports and analyses of the Rathergate story is the incredible double standard on display when treatment of the Bush National Guard story is compared to the handling of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth story. The double standard applied to the Swifties was evident before the Rathergate story broke, but both the 60 Minutes story and the “Fortunate Son” campaign made the bias so blatantly obvious that even those who don’t regularly follow politics could not miss it. Ross Mackenzie takes a good look at the glaring double standard. (Link via Lucianne.com)

— Lorie Byrd

John Kerry seems to be paying a heavy price for saying “Lambert Field”

— PoliPundit

Says Naomi “earth tones” Wolf:

Unfortunately, Teresa Heinz Kerry’s [convention] speech, which all but ignored her husband, did more to emasculate him than the opposition ever could. By publicly shining the light on herself rather than her husband, she opened a symbolic breach in Kerry’s archetypal armor. Listen to what the Republicans are hitting Kerry with: Indecisive. Effete. French. They are all but calling this tall, accomplished war hero gay.

The charges are sticking because of Teresa Heinz Kerry. Let’s start with “Heinz.” By retaining her dead husband’s name—there is no genteel way to put this—she is publicly, subliminally cuckolding Kerry with the power of another man—a dead Republican man, at that. Add to that the fact that her first husband was (as she is herself now) vastly more wealthy than her second husband. Throw into all of this her penchant for black, a color that no woman wears in the heartland, and you have a recipe for just what Kerry is struggling with now: charges of elitism, unstable family relationships, and an unmanned candidate.

Or, as Mark Steyn puts it:

There is an attack dog on the Kerry team. Unfortunately, it’s his wife, and folks don’t like that in a prospective First Lady. Teresa Heinz Kerry dismisses her husband’s critics as ‘idiots’ and ‘scumbags’, and Kerry’s new advisers seem eager to limit her visibility. I’ve lost count of the number of Democrat women who’ve said to me that they can’t stand her.

— PoliPundit

This report from the Belgravia Dispatch is a must read. (Link via Instapundit)

— Lorie Byrd

“If it had been us, we would have been crucified.”

– Rupert Murdoch on RatherGate.

— PoliPundit

The Washington Post has a piece on fertility, religion, politics, and why the Republican majority will grow.

The author doesn’t make the natural connection to James Taranto’s un-PC Roe Effect, which I’ve written about here, here, here and here.

— PoliPundit

FINALLY! We now have some news out of Florida!

Quinnpiac University has a poll out this morning showing President Bush with a strong lead in the Sunshine State.

With Ralph Nader now on the ballot thanks to a ruling of the Florida Supreme Court, the President leads Kerry 49% to 41%. The approval ratings of both the Governor and the President have surged higher since the beginning of hurricane season.

President Bush has a very good favorable/unfavorable rating. Kerry’s is a net negative. In the Senate race, Mel Martinez trails by one point, so obviously, this is going to be a very close race until election day.

Last night, Gallup released two state polls. In Nevada, President Bush leads 52%-43%. In West Virginia, the President leads 51%-45%.

— Alexander K. McClure

RatherGate cartoons.

— PoliPundit

I can’t wait for this movie.

— PoliPundit

This is quite a damning chronology.

— PoliPundit