The latest from the Political Grapevine:

President Bush Edges Kerry
A new FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll (search) shows that — after being tied with John Kerry for the past four months — President Bush is now leading Kerry by 7 percentage points, when Ralph Nader's in the race. In addition, the poll shows President Bush — who was trailing Kerry in the 15 battleground states two weeks ago — now tied with Kerry, with President Bush beating Kerry in Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Cash for Convicts
Speaking of battleground states, a Democratic organization funded by anti-Bush billionaire George Soros (search) is hiring former prison inmates — some convicted of sex offenses, assault and burglary — to go door-to-door in Missouri, Florida and Ohio registering voters. The organization, America Coming Together, pays the convicts as much as $12 an hour. Though four hired by America Coming Together in Missouri are back in prison for new violations, the organization insists hiring convicts does not pose a threat to the public. Plus, the organization says, "It's important to give people a second chance."

Film Tramples the Boundary?
Even the New York Times, in a favorable review, said that Michael Moore's new film "Fahrenheit 9/11" "blithely tramples the boundary between documentary and demagoguery" and is more like an "editorial cartoon." Among other things, the film insists President Bush went to war in Afghanistan after 9/11 not to fight terrorism, but to enrich Vice President Dick Cheney through an oil scheme. Still, according to National Review, that didn't stop a number of Democrats — including New York Congressman Charlie Rangel, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, Montana Sen. Max Baucus, South Carolina Sen. Ernest Hollings and DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe — from going to see the film at a screening last night in Washington. McAuliffe called the film "powerful," saying he believed its assertions and insisting it was fair and factually based.

Bush Went to War for Jewish Vote?
And speaking of Hollings, last month he wrote a piece in his home-state newspaper saying President Bush went to war in Iraq to "take the Jewish vote from the Democrats." Well, Hollings has now written a follow-up, saying, "Iraq, as a threat to the United States, was all contrived. ... We were intentionally misled by the Bush administration. ... In the war against terrorism, we've given the terrorists a cause ... [and] we have proven ourselves 'infidels.'"

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report