CNN gallop poll:

52% Kerry

39% Bush

Negativism overcame Bush's stance, and despite the broken record empty jabs.. Kerry was again clear and strong.

This is the fresh poll, and polls are not that accurate, change over 42-78 hrs..but..a very big spread here even with margin of error.

I feel an unfiltered view of Kerry over the past three weeks has given Americans allot to think about regarding he and Bush..and that is what shows in the polls as Bush declines, Kerry rises..

Tonight we see them both on women's issues, Afro-amarican issues, seniors, medicare, the right to choose, gay and lesbian rights, religion and politics.. healthcare..education..the deficit and taxes.

Again, so long as there is no "October surprise" tailored to impose fear..or a false sence of triumph, and so long as ALL VOTERS are honored and heard..we have quite a race ahead!

Negativism and pure rhetoric is out of style! We need strong, clear, focused forward movement.

This vote is not about the next four years! It's about the next decade and beyond.

We need to begin to take back America.

Mo

We're gonna wiiin..

Anyway..I thought you were out looking for Bigfoot..

Mo

kerry dignified, but maybe not spirited enough, but no comparison in smarts, judgement, thoughtfulness, tact, class
professionalism

he will do much better job than ole cowboy bush and he will win

anyone who cant see he is much better choice is missing something somewhere im sorry
or they are just party voters no matter what
or maybe naive or stupid.don't know for sure

It was nice to see the Afghans voting wasn't it!

(I'm sure Kerry had a plan!)
------------------

You are right on. YESSSSSSSSS!

This isn't a plan in a drawer somewhere, it's history. Kerry has a plan for everything but never tells us what it is, just that it's better than Bush's action! Kerry claims Bush has mis-led the American people but in fact when you think about it, it's Kerry who has mis-led and ill-led us. I do not want to place my trust and future in the hands of a man who conspired with the communist while we had troops in the field being killed by the communist! He sold us out once and he will do it again! Have you heard the proverbial old saying, ``screw me once, shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me!?''
I'll be bock, (on Monday).

YES..the IMAGE of a nineteen year old Afghan
woman at the polls is uplifting..taken out of context of what is really happening there, to garner votes and support for themselves.

Again..just because Bush anc Co. say it is so..doesn't mean it is. I think it is despicable for them to use a simple image to misrepresent how bad things still are over there.

All you have to do is get the full story on Afghanistan, and the rosy picture painted by the Republican campaign is obvious as stretching and twisting the real situation to make it look as though Democracy is "winning" in Afghanistan, and therefore will in Iraq.

That claim is very far from the truth..and far too simplistic and ignorant of what is really happening in both countries.

Source, and to read more on Afghan elections: http://www.fpif.org/papers/0410afghanelect.html

Women are Pawns in Election

The Bush administration constantly calls attention to the fact that 4 million of those who registered to vote in Afghanistan were women. Just as the ``liberation'' of Afghan women was used to justify the bombing of Afghanistan three years ago, women's participation in U.S.-imposed election is again used to justify the U.S. approach. While the administration deals in broad statistics to paint a rosy picture, a closer look reveals that the Afghan political environment, controlled by U.S.-backed warlords and a U.S.-backed president, remains extremely hostile to women. Women comprise 60% of the population but only 43% of registered voters. Additionally, sharp differences in literacy between men and women put women at a huge disadvantage. Only 10% of Afghan women can read and write. While school attendance for girls has increased to about 50% nationwide, it is too early to affect women voters. Furthermore, under Karzai's presidency, married women were banned from attending schools in late 2003.

While much mileage has been squeezed out of the notion that the U.S. ``liberated'' Afghan women, only one dollar out of every $5,000 ($112,500 out of $650 million) of U.S. financial aid sent to Afghanistan in 2002 was actually given to women's organizations. In 2003, according to Ritu Sharma, Executive Director of the Women's Edge Coalition, that amount was reduced to $90,000. At the same time, women have increasingly been the targets of violence. New studies by groups like Amnesty International reveal that sexual violence has surged since the fall of the Taliban, and there has been a sharp rise in incidents of women's self-immolation in Western Afghanistan. Amnesty International has documented an escalation in the number of girls and young women abducted and forced into marriage, with collusion from the state (those who resist are often imprisoned).

U.S. policy has empowered extreme fundamentalists who have further extended women's oppression in a traditionally ultra-conservative society. In a public opinion survey conducted in Afghanistan this July by the Asia Foundation, 72% of respondents said that men should advise women on their voting choices and 87% of all Afghans interviewed said women would need their husband's permission to vote. On International Women's Day this year, Hamid Karzai only encouraged such attitudes. He implored men to allow their wives and sisters to register to vote, assuring them, ``later, you can control who she votes for, but please, let her go [to register].'' Most of the candidates running against Karzai have mentioned rights for women in some form or another as part of their campaign platforms. While this is obligatory in post-Taliban Afghanistan, it remains little more than lip service. Latif Pedram, a candidate who went slightly further than others by suggesting that polygamy was unfair to women, was barred from the election and investigated by the Justice Ministry for ``blasphemy.''

Just like the Afghan constitution signed earlier this year, which gives equal rights to women on paper, this election will probably have little bearing on the reality of Afghan women's lives. Denied an education and underrepresented in voter rolls, with little control over the patriarchal justice system and sexist family attitudes, women are once more simply pawns within the U.S.-designed Afghan political structure.

Nomo, read the first few sentences and lost interest (short attention span I guess). Did it say when things were better for women? I just think it wonderful that the Afghans (men and women) are voting. To me it shows (1) they are not too stupid to vote as some have suggested and (2) they want to vote as some have said they didn't. Gosh, they are just like us!

Your tone suggest that there is sooo much wrong there that it can never be corrected and therefore we shouldn't try because, it's a quagmire, bush has no exit plan, it's awash in drugs and the warlords run the place etc,etc!

Kerry speaks well and has the ability ( some would say it's his down fall) of showing no emotion.

Bush on the other hand is very passionate about what he believes in and his face shows all his emotions...

From where I was sitting...

Kerry won debate # 1

It was a draw in debate #2

Bush clearly won debate # 3

Only time will tell...

BUT 52% to 39% is a BIG spread.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/tables/live/2004-10-14-poll.htm

Anybody with the names of Labrat and My most Powerful has already won my votes.

Good sense of humor there....

With respect to Ms.Lisa , Mo, Mammalyme, I just gotta say that........ yesser ri bobtail, I do think Pres. Bush had the 3rd time charm meter turned all the way up! He definitely had me on the comment that Kerry was even more liberal than ol' Teddy Kennedy.

Poll: Kerry loses ground to Bush
Kerry's debate showing not translating to popularity
Tuesday, October 19, 2004 Posted: 12:27 PM EDT (1627 GMT)

(CNN) -- Although most Americans who have been polled say they think Sen. John Kerry did the better job in the debates, the Democratic nominee appears to have lost some ground to President Bush in the popularity contest, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Sunday.

The latest poll, taken after the third and final debate last Wednesday in Tempe, Arizona, indicated Bush with a spread of 52 percent to 44 percent over Kerry among likely voters.

In the previous Gallup poll, taken October 9-10, Bush had an edge of 49 percent to 46 percent among those in the same group.

Among registered voters, Bush edged Kerry 49 percent to 46 percent, practically even given the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In the previous poll, taken after the second debate on October 8, Kerry and Bush were tied at 48 percent among registered voters. The October 9-10 poll had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. (Full story)

Independent candidate Ralph Nader had 1 percent among both groups in each poll.

The poll interviewed 1,013 adult Americans by telephone Thursday through Saturday, including 942 who identified themselves as registered voters and 788 who indicated they were likely to vote.

On the question about last week's debate, 46 percent of all those interviewed thought Kerry did a better job in than Bush, who had 32 percent. Yet as Democrat Al Gore learned in 2000, winning a debate on points does not necessarily translate into electoral votes.

As in 2000, Bush's favorability ratings -- how Americans view him as a person -- went up after a debate that voters say he lost -- from 51 percent in the October 9-10 poll to 55 percent in the most recent poll.

Kerry's favorability rating remained flat, at 52 percent in both polls. The question had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

One reason Kerry has not been able to translate his debate showing into a lead in the popularity contest could be that voters think he is too liberal.

Bush emphasized that label at Wednesday's debate, and it seems to be sticking. Nearly half of all respondents -- 47 percent -- in the most recent poll said Kerry's political views are too liberal. Four in 10 said Bush is too conservative. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Bush is still seen as a better commander in chief and a stronger leader, by a 53 percent to 44 percent margin.

The margin of error on those questions was plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Bush also apparently picked up ground on education and health care in the third debate, which concentrated on domestic issues.

In the most recent poll, 49 percent of all respondents said he would do a better job on education than Kerry, who had 46 percent. The October 9-10 poll had Bush at 43 percent and Kerry at 50 percent.

On health care, 52 percent now say Kerry would do a better job, compared with 56 percent in the previous poll. Bush's percentages went up from 37 percent to 43 percent.

Those questions had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Republicans seem more enthusiastic about the election (77 percent) than do Democrats (65 percent) and thus more likely to vote, as reflected in Gallup's likely voter model.

Respondents who identified themselves a Bush voters were also nearly unanimous in thinking their candidate would win -- 88 percent. A quarter of Kerry voters said they think their candidate would lose.

Regardless of how they are planning to vote, Americans appear to think this is the most important election in recent memory.

When asked whether the outcome matters more than in previous elections, 72 percent of all respondents said yes, compared with 47 percent in 2000 and 41 percent in 1996.