The 2004 Campaign
CIA: Osama Helped Bush
in '04
CIA analysts concluded that
Osama bin-Laden's release of a videotape four days before Election 2004
was a covert attempt by the terrorist leader to influence American
voters to give George W. Bush a second term. The troubling CIA
assessment was disclosed in a little-notice passage of Ron Suskind's new
book. But it also fits with other evidence of a long-term symbiotic
relationship between the Bushes and the bin-Ladens. July 4, 2006
Kerry Suspects Election
2004 Was Stolen
Sen. John Kerry has told acquaintances over the past year that he
suspects the election was stolen in 2004 but that he lacked the hard proof
to challenge the official results. But one effect of Kerry's avoidance of a
public battle may be the despair among millions of Americans who feel their
democratic birthright was taken along with the last two presidential
elections. November 6, 2005
Will Ferrell & ACT's
Failed Logic
When comedian Will Ferrell reprised his "Saturday Night Live" imitation
of George W. Bush for a campaign ad in 2004, traditional Democratic
operatives shied away from showing it on television, apparently out of fear
that it poked fun at the president. In effect, Democratic groups like
America Coming Together failed in their bid to unseat Bush because they
chose to play it safe and didn't appreciate the power of the conservative
media. August 5, 2005
Kerry's Last Flip-Flop
John Kerry's refusal to join
members of the Congressional Black Caucus in contesting voting fraud in Ohio
may mark the sad end to what once was a courageous political career. By
opposing a floor debate on electoral abuses while calling on his supporters
to ask Republican leaders to have hearings on electoral reform, he also
looks like George W. Bush's caricature of Kerry as a politician who won't
take a stand. January 6, 2005
Will John Kerry Report
for Duty?
An expected challenge from members
of the Congressional Black Caucus to the fairness of George W. Bush's
election may put John Kerry in a tight spot. By signing on as a senator,
Kerry would prevent Vice President Dick Cheney from gaveling the Democratic
motion out of order at a joint session on Jan. 6, but Kerry also might open
himself to taunts that he's a "sore loser." January 4, 2005
Election 2004's Myths &
Mysteries
The 2004 presidential campaign
shattered illusions of fair play, honest debate, and political institutions
capable of maintaining the rules of the game. Instead, the modern American
political system has now been inundated with false myths and unsolved
mysteries. Will anyone fix the problems or has American democracy based on
the consent of an informed citizenry effectively come to an end? December
10, 2004
Slow-Rolling Democracy in
Ohio
George W. Bush's Republican allies in Ohio have taken more than a month
to certify the results in the state that decided the U.S. presidential
election. Next, they plan to hold off on any recount until after the
Electoral College formalizes Bush's election to a second term, making any
discoveries of discarded votes or systematic fraud largely an academic
exercise. December 4, 2004
Bush
Victory's Lesson to the World
Around the globe, longtime admirers of
the United States are stunned that the American electorate would endorse
what many view as a lawless administration. But another troubling message
bubbles beneath the surface as authoritarian regimes discover that they can
cite U.S. electoral flaws to justify their own behavior. November 11,
2004
Explaining
Ourselves
There's been both praise and criticism
for our four post-election stories, which tried to frame the questions about
the Nov. 2 vote tallies and which depicted the U.S. news media as
dangerously imbalanced to the right. So in response to the comments, we
offer a fuller explanation of why we see a broken system that threatens to
turn the United States into a democratic republic in name only. November 10,
2004
Bush's
'Incredible' Vote Tallies
George W. Bush's vote tallies,
especially in the critical state of Florida where he earned more votes than
registered Republicans, are so statistically stunning that they test the
bounds of believability. Democratic activists, who worked hard to turn out
millions of new voters for John Kerry, are wondering how the GOP pulled it
off. November 9, 2004
Evidence of a Second Bush
Coup?
Election experts are struggling to
explain why exit polls showed John Kerry winning by three percentage points
when George W. Bush ended up on top by about that same margin. Some
Democrats suspect that the Bush campaign may have employed CIA-style
"cyber-war" techniques to manipulate the ballot results, a theoretical
possibility but one that so far lacks evidentiary support. November 6, 2004
Too Little, Too Late
George W. Bush's electoral victory
shows that the conservatives have mastered the techniques of convincing
large numbers of Americans that reality doesn't matter -- or that reality is
whatever Bush says it is. As the powerful Right-Wing Machine celebrates,
Democrats and liberals face a challenge of countering this infrastructure or
ceding power to the Republicans/conservatives for the foreseeable future.
November 3, 2004
Bush's 'Exit Ramp'
or Four More Years?
American voters have one decision to
make on November 2: Do they want to take the electoral "exit ramp" that's
looming ahead -- and change presidential drivers -- or do they want to give
George W. Bush four more years to keep the pedal to the metal down a
hazard-strewn highway? November 1, 2004
Kerry's Contra-Cocaine
Chapter
In 1986, when the Reagan-Bush
administration was at its peak of power, freshman Sen. John Kerry undertook
a daring investigation of cocaine trafficking involving Ronald Reagan's
beloved Nicaraguan contras. Though Kerry battled his way to historic
findings, he got only abuse from the major national news media, which missed
one of the worst scandals in modern American history. October 29, 2004
Plan B: 'October/November
Surprise'
With the polls tightening, the Bush
campaign has resorted to Plan B, an "October/November Surprise" aimed at
depressing the Democratic vote in key battleground states, such as Ohio.
Unlike earlier Republican "October Surprise" gambits, however, Bush's scheme
is right out in the open. October 27, 2004
Bush: Beyond Reason
An aide to George W. Bush mocks what
the White House calls the "reality-based community," making Election 2004
look increasingly like it has become a test of whether mysticism or
empiricism will control U.S. actions in the world. Bush has used a variety
of signals to persuade a swath of American voters that he is a messenger
from God. October 19, 2004
Bushes Play the 'Traitor'
Card
If the attacks on John Kerry's loyalty
have a feel of deja vu, it may be because George H.W. Bush's
reelection campaign tried similar smears against Bill Clinton in 1992. In the 2004 campaign, George W. Bush is expected to get a
last-minute boost from a national broadcast of an anti-Kerry propaganda film
that portrays the Democrat as a traitor. October 18, 2004
Kerry Attacker Protected
Rev. Moon
The producer of an anti-John Kerry
video, which will be aired on stations across the United States before the
Nov. 2 election, also attacked federal investigators who were cracking down
on Rev. Sun Myung Moon's mysterious money flows in the 1980s. A book by
Carlton Sherwood helped silence Moon's critics and enabled the South Korean
theocrat to continue funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into the U.S.
political process. October 15, 2004
Bush's 'Transformational'
Democracy
Conservative enthusiasts are
predicting that George W. Bush's victory on Nov. 2 will mark a
"transformational" moment in American politics, locking down Republican
political control for a generation or more. It also could mean a fundamental
change in the workings of American democracy. September 22, 2004
Campaign 2004's Jedi Mind
Tricks
As in the Star Wars movies, the Bush
campaign has mastered the art of the Jedi Mind Trick -- the magical wave of
the hand and hypnotically suggestive words used to cast John Kerry as an
unacceptable flip-flopper. Like the feeble-minded creatures in the Star Wars
movies, the mainstream media are under the spell. September 20, 2004
Reality on the Ballot
George W. Bush's acceptance speech
continued his pattern of lying about the Iraq War, while other Republicans
pushed distortions of John Kerry's actions during the Vietnam War. Suddenly,
Election 2004 has become a test not just of the candidates but whether
reality still matters to the American people. September 4, 2004
Bush-Style Politics, Again
The Bush campaign adopts a familiar
campaign tactic -- tear down its political opponent with false and misleading
attacks -- while a compliant Washington press corps gives Bush another pass.
August 19, 2004
Bush-Kerry: Meaning the Same
Thing?
In the 2004 presidential campaign, George W. Bush is seen as the
straight-shooter who knows his own mind, while John Kerry is known as the
flip-flopper who says what people want to hear. But that's only because
Washington media pundits are interpreting their words. June 18, 2004
Four More Years?
Election 2004 is shaping up
as a contest between an incumbent president who thinks too little and a
challenger who is criticized for thinking too much -- between George W.
Bush the believer and John Kerry the thinker. May 13, 2004
Which Way on Election 2004?
George W.
Bush's argument for a second term boils down to "trust me, I know what
I'm doing." John Kerry is faced with trickier message: does he play it
safe and go for a narrow majority or will he raise the stakes and bid
for a breakthrough Democratic victory. March 10, 2004
Bush's Great
Debate -- With Himself
George W. Bush has been
poking fun at Democratic frontrunner John Kerry for supposedly
flip-flopping on issues. But what Bush promised in 2000 and what he says
now could be the makings of a great debate -- with himself. March 2,
2004
Kerry & the 'Special
Interest' Hit Piece
In 2000, a news media
aghast over Al Gore’s supposed lies paved the way for a George W. Bush
presidency whose hallmark has been a disdain for facts. Now, in 2004,
the emerging theme depicting Senator John Kerry as a “captive of special
interests” may contribute to four more years of a Bush administration
whose policies have bent consistently to the desires of any number of
corporate benefactors. February 19, 2004
The New England
Patriot Factor
The
Republicans hope to make Massachusetts conjure up images of an
un-American place outside the mainstream, but for millions of football
fans John Kerry’s home state brings memories of the Super Bowl
champions. February 12, 2004
Political Psychosis & Election 2004
Though not listed as a candidate, "reality" will
be on the ballot in 2004. The current situation, especially in U.S.
policy toward Iraq, suggests a worsening political psychosis that only
the American voters can cure -- by demanding a political system and a
news media that start respecting the facts. February 9, 2004
A Political Battle for Planet Earth
The energy of the Democratic base in the early
primaries is evidence that the 2004 election is shaping up as a test of whether the American people will sign
off on policies that are charting a dark
political course for the planet. February 3, 2004
Do
Democrats Need the South?
A new conventional wisdom among
pundits is that the Democrats drove away the South's political
allegiance because the Democrats supposedly don't care about religion
and other strong Southern concerns. But this spin has turned history on
its head, editing out how Republicans pandered to some of the South's
worst attitudes toward blacks and gays. December 1, 2003
Democrats Feud as Bush
Falters
The Democratic presidential race is opening up old fissures in the party, between
pro-war and anti-war factions. But the biggest schism -- as the Democrats pick a candidate
to challenge George W. Bush -- is over which wing of the party has most failed to learn
the lessons of past election debacles. August 13, 2003
Bush: 'The Wrong Man?'
George W. Bush's backers say his decisiveness makes him the "right man"
for these dangerous times, but a contrary view holds that Bush's reliance on gut judgments
and his lack of real-world experience have only worsened the dangers, making him very much
the "wrong man" to run the country. July 9, 2003
The Bush Exit Ramp
George W. Bush's loose tongue is complicating an already dangerous moment for the
United States, but he seems unwilling to control his rhetoric. January 22, 2003
Democrats' Route From
Political Trap
The right-wing attack machine wastes no time bashing Democratic 2004
"wannabes," shattering the notion that a "fresh face" would solve the
Democrats' strategic political weaknesses. A news analysis. January 6, 2003
Evolving Democratic
Minority
Before the 2002 elections, many Democrats were looking for signs of an
"emerging Democratic majority." Instead, Republicans showed how their
sophisticated media infrastructure can create electoral majorities even when many voters
disagree with GOP policies. November 19, 2002
Election
2002's Exploded Myth
The Democrats have long followed Tip O'Neill's maxim, "All politics is
local," which has led liberals to downplay the importance of national media. The
Democratic debacle of Nov. 5 should finally show that a political movement that ignores
the power of national media is inviting its own destruction. Editorial. November 9, 2002
Bush, the Polls & 2004
Many
Republican strategists saw the American people's anger over Sept. 11 and George W. Bush's
"united-we-stand" poll numbers as a way to lock down a second term in 2004. But
recent poll numbers suggest a less certain future. September 10, 2002
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