The American Staff

There’s always too much news to fit into a 24-hour day — especially when the national media is focused on the crucial election-year topics of windsurfing and “values” voters. But under the radar were all sorts of unanswered questions and unnoticed stories. Here are four of the most interesting. The Sound of Silence Where was […]

Kenneth Baer, TAP Online Columnist Popular Vote: Kerry 50.5%, Bush 48% Electoral Votes: Kerry 299; Bush 239 Prez on 11/3?: We will have both a president and president-elect. Reason: In addition to the dwindling efficacy of phone polling (which made this seem tighter), there are three variables that mattered: 1) unbelievably high voter registration; 2) […]

Florida. The good news for the Democrats is that John Kerry has made inroads into the crucial Tampa Bay media market, the state’s key swing area, and looks set to improve on Al Gore’s 2000 performance. The bad news is that George W. Bush has made inroads into Florida’s African American community, with statewide polling […]

Florida. After lagging narrowly in the polls for several weeks, John Kerry’s acquired a narrow 50 percent to 49 percent lead, according to an October 17 poll conducted by Survey USA. Under the circumstances, the “ground game” — get-out-the-vote efforts and legal and other battles to get votes counted — will likely be decisive and […]

Florida. Trailing narrowly in most state polls, John Kerry is breaking out liberal bête noir Joe Lieberman to help solidify support among south Florida Jews. Lieberman spent Wednesday in town-hall meetings in Miami and West Palm Beach touting Kerry’s positions on Medicare and Israel while reminding voters of his own failed bid for the vice […]

Wooing women Finally. Finally. Finally. Seven months after he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination and less than three weeks before the election, John Kerry on Wednesday night finally turned his attention to what must be his largest constituency: women. Time and again during his final debate with George W. Bush, Kerry […]

Missouri. The last poll, taken two weeks ago by the firm Research 2000, showed Democratic state auditor Claire McCaskill and Republican Secretary of State Matt Blunt running neck and neck, with 46 percent for McCaskill, 45 for Blunt, and 9 undecided. Little has happened in the race itself in these last two weeks to indicate […]

Alaska. This soap opera of a race will likely hang in the balance until November 2. Too bad it has to end then, though, because the campaign ads just keep getting funnier — and dirtier — up in The Last Frontier. The back story: In 2001, Republican Senator Frank Murkowski ended a 20-year Senate career […]

The World According to George In the current issue of The National Interest, distinguished neoconservative scholar Francis Fukuyama offered a critical assessment of a recent address given by neoconservative psychologist-turned-hack Charles Krauthammer. The speech, wrote Fukuyama, was “strangely disconnected from reality. Reading Krauthammer, one gets the impression that the Iraq War — the archetypical application […]