Ive heard a lot since the debates that the two sides both were at the debates but were talking to different audiences. Karl Rove has stated that they want to get the millions of conservatives who didnt vote in 2000 to vote now. Was Bush talking to his base on Friday? Was Kerry talking to the middle? Does Bush think the middle is too small and what is more important is to get the base to come out?

 

Some outside analysts agree that is what Kerry must do to win over undecided voters reluctant to back Bush, a small sliver of the electorate that could decide the race.

 

"You've got folks that are uncomfortable with the direction of the country, but they're not confident yet that Kerry would do a better job," said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University in Iowa. Greenberg and Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart said they believed Kerry had improved his standing among swing voters, with Greenberg pointing to increases in Kerry's ratings in three areas that have given him trouble in past surveys: likeability, clarity of ideas and "having confidence when I watch him."

 

"It looked like George Bush spent most of the evening trying to reassure his base because of his poor performance last week," Lockhart said. "We were aiming at swing voters."

 

Greenberg conceded that Bush is getting positive response on issues from Republican voters, but added, "That may not be the best way to wind up with a majority."

 

Bush political strategist Karl Rove said Democrats were wrong in saying that Bush was appealing only to Republican conservatives by talking during the debate about restrictions on stem cell research funding and late-term abortion. He said those were "mainstream issues" and that Kerry's positions on them, not Bush's, were out of step with most Americans.

 

Added Hughes, Bush's campaign adviser: "Swing voters care about jobs. Swing voters care about health care. Swing voters care about the safety of their families."

 

 

 

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/ny-us...itics-headlines

If Bush is/was speaking to conservatives I'd say that's a bit of a red flag.

 

It's a little late to be soldifying the base.

 

But on the other hand, maybe the GOP has recognized that neither side has created much traction with undecides, and are willing to turn focus inwards in identifying the conservative vote as enough in and of itself to guarantee victory.

If Bush is/was speaking to conservatives I'd say that's a bit of a red flag.

 

It's a little late to be soldifying the base.

 

But on the other hand, maybe the GOP has recognized that neither side has created much traction with undecides, and are willing to turn focus inwards in identifying the conservative vote as enough in and of itself to guarantee victory.

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Bush is talking to his base. That is why he is pushing the legislation to out-law gay marriage, that is for his base. Because historically undecideds go 2-1 for the challanger. Because most of the vote is locked in. I think there is more for Bush to lose than gain, so he is trying to keep what he has.

Some polls have undecideds at 1%. Zogby has em much higher-around 7-8%. If Zogby is right, it would be a foolish strategy.

Some polls have undecideds at 1%. Zogby has em much higher-around 7-8%. If Zogby is right, it would be a foolish strategy.

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Maybe. But maybe the Bush camp recognizes that both they and Kerry have been wasting resources fishing in the undecided pond for months without catching anything of significance.

Bush is talking to his base. That is why he is pushing the legislation to out-law gay marriage, that is for his base.

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Don't kid yourself - on that issue its a good sized chunk of Kerry's base as well.

 

He's not really "pushing" it, it was thrown out there as a sop - really just an election year propaganda freebie to make anyone who opposed it appear far left and out of the mainstream. I doubt any republican strategists ever expected it to pass or ever get ratified by the states.

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What are you talking about talking to Kerry's base? If I remember a poll from a couple months back it was like 80% of the public was against ratifying the constitution over this. This is just speaking to the very right winged. Kerry supporters may not want Gay marriage to be legal, but they don't want to outlaw it, at least not for the healthy majority.

to make anyone who opposed it appear far left and out of the mainstream. Nobody expected the amendment to pass. What this did was flush the far lefties out into the light.

 

 

So the six Republicans and 43 dems in the Senate who blocked it were made out to be far left and out of the mainstream? And the 227 Congressman in the House? Wanna point out the hidden individuals who were exposed as leftists?