This election, unlike 2000, may be a rout

One theory has it that war and other events could tip the race decisively to Bush or Kerry.
Ever since the 2000 election, political strategists have been bracing for another close presidential contest. With polls showing a tight partisan divide across the nation, the 2004 race has seemed likely to hinge on which side could sway the few undecided voters in a small number of battleground states, from Ohio to Pennsylvania to, once again, Florida.
But lately, many observers are considering an alternative: that the election won't come down to any particular battleground, but will tip decisively, across a swath of states, to one candidate or the other. Rather than hinging on hanging chads, this year's contest could wind up resembling more of a sweep.
<snip>
But recent events in Iraq, particularly the prison scandal at Abu Graib, have been taking a toll on Mr. Bush's overall standing: Several new polls last week showed his approval rating dropping to the mid-40s - a low point for his presidency, and a clear danger zone for an incumbent. And a similar pattern is playing out across battleground states: An American Research Group poll last week in Ohio, for example, found Kerry ahead by 50 to 43 percent, while other new surveys have the Massachusetts senator up in states such as Wisconsin and Florida.
<snip>
In the ARG poll, more Ohio voters also said they would vote for Kerry than said they had a favorable opinion of him - "which says it's really a referendum on Bush," Mr. Bennett notes.
<more>
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0517/p02s03-uspo.html

Article doesn't say who wins but claims somebody could win big.

there are way too many states that will vote Bush no matter what happens. If he ripped off his mask and he was a green space monster underneath Nebraska woulde still vote for him.

.

I lived there all my life until I moved to Texas a few months ago - possibly the only place more pro-Bush in the world, unfortunately.

Do you think Connelly has a chance in the 2nd district? My friend that's still in NE thinks he does but when was the last time NE even had a democrat representative and besides I'm skeptical that any intelligent thought can come from a district where the democratic stronghold elected Mike Johans mayor!

gone over to the dark side.

I don't think that the democratic party has much of a chance here at all. They don't show much organization, have very little media coverage, and can't really make any gains with the voting populace because they (the voters) stand behind bush* 100%. The republicans have a deep-rooted constituency here, and I just don't understand why. Nebraska has been hit so very hard with by the bush* agenda, you would think that would make a difference, but it doesn't.

Face it, the best we can come up for Senator in the democratic party here is Ben Nelson. What's that tell you?

I think of us as the Hard Red Republicans.

North Dakota is effectively a one-party, Xian state: a prototype for the rest of America.

Winnipeg looks more attractive every day.

will tell us alot. The democrat has experience in the unicameral and has a really good agenda in the model of Bob Kerry only more conservative. I can hardly imagine what a Nebraska voter wouldn't like about his agenda. The republican challenger only has experience in a city council and his only issue is family values. Assuming the media coverage is anything approaching fair(which is not a given) Connelly should beat the repub, even in Nebraska. I'm not saying he'll win, there aren't any polls so it's hard to say but if the dems ever had a chance, this is it.

would vote for him for President is beyond my comprehension. The man is clearly an inarticulate moron who lacks interest in the subtleties of the issues!!!

He takes the simple "yes or no" stand on almost every issue (tax cuts, Iraq, Mideast etc), and hides behind the manufactured "W has Resolve, man of the people" persona even when facts later show how wrong his decisions were.

They listen briefly now and then, form opinions based on what doesn't make them feel bad, and these "impressions" are the basis of their political activity.

This race could very easily turn into an electoral landslide - the system is designed to turn even very narrow victories into such.

It will not, however, be a popular landslide. No matter how badly or how well the candidates perform, nobody's expecting the outcome to be decided by more than 5%.

as does Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, and the rest of the RW-propaganda machine.

There exists a bloc of fundamentalist voters in the Mountain West, Plains and Southern states that will go with * no matter what.

chimpy no matter what, but their enthusiasm is waning. Eventually it will reach a point where they "support" him but not enough to put themselves out to stand in line to vote for him!