Presidential Race ctd 3

1. Catholic Wars: Archbishop Chaput, in the Oct. 12 New York Times, is quoted after an interview with two of the newspaper's reporters: "If you vote this way [for a candidate like Kerry], are you cooperating in evil? And if you know you are cooperating in evil, should you go to confession? The answer is yes." That is interpreted in the story as asking Catholics to vote for George W. Bush. (Robert Novak, Townhall)
2. Think Again: November 2's religious dimension: Most important, Bush apprehended the theological basis of the battle with radical Islam. His own faith gave him insight into the diabolical power of a deformed Islam.
   He understood that there can be no compromise between the lovers of life and the lovers of death. Islamists lay claim to every inch of land ever under Muslim control, and seek the imposition of Shari'a (Islamic law) over the entire globe. Those goals are non-negotiable. The battle between Islamism and the West will be determined as much by will as by firepower. (Jonathan Rosenblum, Jerusalem Post)
3. Christian Conservatives for Bush (Marvin Olasky, Townhall)
4. Media gave Kerry a pass in the debates (Larry Elder, Townhall)
5. The Media for Kerry: "Absolutely," most reporters want John Kerry to win the election, declares Newsweek's Evan Thomas, commenting on the media bias he says translates into "maybe" five extra points for the Democratic ticket at the polls. That's down from the 15 points Mr. Thomas first predicted Fourth Estate favor would bestow on Kerry-Edwards, but even five points could tip a race as close as this one. Which is a chilling thought, but also a golden opportunity. It means that a vote for Bush-Cheney is not only a vote against Kerry-Edwards, but also a vote against Kerry-Edwards-CBS-CNN-New York Times. Are you incensed over Dan Rather's crude attempt to influence the presidential election with a sheaf of pathetic forgeries? Appalled by "Nightline's" Ted Koppel for using dictatorship-vetted sources in communist Vietnam to contradict the testimonies of decorated American veterans? Outraged by ABC's head-office directive to its reporters to go easier on John Kerry than George W. Bush, and not "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable"? (Diana West,. Washington Times)
6. John Kerry Wasn't Hunting - He Was Killing (cnsnews commentary)
7. Pool report on Kerry's hunting trip (freerepublic)
8. Kerry on Hunting Photo-Op to Help Image: "We want people to have a better sense of John Kerry the guy," explained Mike McCurry, a senior campaign spokesman, saying the coming days would bring more outdoor activities that "show people the kinds of things he likes," like baseball and hockey.
   Asked whether final-stretch photo opportunities might include windsurfing, the hobby that has helped tag Mr. Kerry with an elitist's image, Mr. McCurry said, "It's too cold this time of year." (nytimes)
9. Kerry Campaign Shifts Its Focus to Southwest: Except for Florida, Democrats have all but given up on the South, an unprecedented move. Once the party of the "Solid South," Democrats this year are not actively contesting any state in the region except Florida in the presidential campaign. Instead, Kerry has shifted his attention west, mounting major efforts in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and, at one point, Arizona. (latimes)
10. Yearning for the Mud: The Kerry-Heinz Ticket and the Psychotic Party Platform: I lived in France for a number of years. I have a lot of French friends. My daughter was conceived in France. I lived in Aix, Paris, and along the Western Front. Unlike others, not all my thoughts of France are negative. But when I consider what the Democratic Party's perverted primary process disgorged as their offering in this year's election, and when I listen to half of it spout execrable French and the other half denigrate mothers and librarians after a career of hunting billionaires to extinction, it brings out the French in me. When I hear Kerry-Heinz speak, I think "Ah,nostalgie pour la boue." They say that their campaign is about the future. It's not. It is about the past; about nostalgie pour la boue. The Kerry Campaign is not some expression of deep American values and ideals, but an expression of the lowest realms of American Political life, something that has always been part of our politics -- the subconscious yearning for American defeat. (americandigest.org)

Other

• No Diversion: The Case Against the War in Iraq Has Weakened: And Gen. Michael DeLong, former Deputy Commander of the US Central Command, is among those who still do not believe it. “There was WMD in Iraq before and during the war,” he says. “You have multiple-source intelligence. Also, from other Arab leaders -- as Tommy Franks [the general who led the U.S. operation to liberate Iraq] says in his book -- King Abdullah said Saddam has WMD. President Mubarek of Egypt said … Saddam has weapons of mass destruction. Other leaders who have chosen not to be named said the same thing. We had technical intelligence that saw the same thing."
  What happened to those weapons? General DeLong recalls: “Two days before March 19, 2003, we saw quite a number of vehicles going into Syria. We could not go after them because we said we'd give Saddam 48 hours. A lot of (Iraqi) leaders went into Syria, and a lot of WMD went into Syria. We've gotten indications some went into Lebanon, and probably some went into Iran. …We've done calculations that you could probably bury 16 Eiffel Towers or Empire State Buildings and never find them in the desert.”
  He added: "Biological Weapons, you could put almost your whole program in a suitcase. You could probably put your whole chemical weapons industry inside a van. Yes, they did have it." (Clifford May, Townhall)
• The Florida Lie: What happened in Florida in 2000 is some voters spoiled their ballots, voting for two candidates or not making a discernible mark on their ballot. This happens in every election, but these mistakes were magnified in Florida because of the scrutiny that came with Bush's 500-vote margin. Peter Kirsanow, a Republican member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and a one-man truth squad about the Florida controversy, estimates the rate of spoilage in Florida at roughly 3 percent. That is similar to the 2.6 percent rate in 1996, when Democrats failed to scream about disenfranchisement. The spoilage rate in heavily Democratic Chicago in 2000 was almost 6 percent, double that of Florida. The sad fact is, according to Kirsanow, ballots tend to be spoiled more in low-income areas (white or black), areas where many people haven't graduated high school, and areas where there are a large number of first-time voters.(Rich Lowry, Townhall)