Resounding Kerry Victory

As the "Pundogarchy" noted after the third debate on Wednesday, it's groaningly obvious that John Kerry won; in fact, as they were saying within seconds of the end of the debate, Kerry's numbers were booming in the polls to reflect that resounding Kerry victory:

President Bush (news - web sites) opened a four-point lead on Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) the day after the final debate between the White House rivals, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Friday.

Bush led Kerry 48-44 percent in the latest three-day tracking poll, which included one night of polling done after Wednesday's debate in Tempe, Arizona. Bush led Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, by only one point, 46-45 percent, the previous day.

Kerry pulled one out when he needed it, obviously.

As the pundogarchy also noted, Kerry clobbered Bush among undecideds:

An improvement in Bush's showing among undecideds and a strong response from his base Republican supporters helped fuel the president's rise.

"The good news for the president is that he has improved his performance among the small group of undecideds," said pollster John Zogby, who found 6 percent of likely voters are undecided. "Nearly a quarter now say that he deserves to be re-elected, up from 18 percent in our last poll."

Kerry clearly had the President's lunch, as the pundogarchs said he did. And those overnight flash polls (no, not Flash polls, the other kind) that showed Kerry winning by a 2:1, 4:1 or 25:1 margin - the ones that had Oliver "Giggly Fratboy" Willis chuckling all day yesterday - were deadly accurate.

As a crestfallen, depressed Captain Ed reminds us, we need to watch what the candidates do, as Kerry, his confidence swollen by his resounding victory in the debate, takes the battle (Ed hypothesizes) into newly-ripe-for-the-picking Bush territory:

As Jim Geraghty at Kerry Spot advises, watch carefully which states each candidate visits over the next three days. I predict that outside of Ohio, Kerry spends all of his time in Gore states, while Bush spends most of his in Gore states as well. Defense vs. offense -- it tells you what the professional polls really show.

Kerry won. Kerry won all three debates, in fact. Kerry is a strong, strong closer, he sure is.

I'm taking my two kids and their two friends to a movie. Good thing I have enough cash for five admissions.

Posted by Mitch at October 15, 2004 07:34 AM | TrackBack