Electing for the 'F' Word?

The latest from the Political Grapevine:

No Bounce So Far

Democrats have said they were hoping this week's convention would give John Kerry and John Edwards at least a 5-point bounce in the polls ... it's still a bit early, but 2 new polls, taken throughout the week, suggest no bounce so far for the Democrats.

A Rasmussenreports.com poll, shows that if elections were held today, 48 percent of Americans would vote for Kerry, and 45 percent would vote for Bush. Those are the exact same numbers from a week ago — but it must be pointed out that only a small portion of that polling  took place during or after John Kerry's speech.

Meanwhile, a Zogby International Poll, taken this week, but before Kerry's speech, also shows that 48 percent of Americans would vote for the Kerry-Edwards ticket. That is the same as three weeks ago.

Electing for the "F" Word?

What is it about this election cycle and the F-word?  First, Vice President Cheney — now this: last night CNN,  allowed its viewers to eavesdrop on legendary producer Don Mischer as he was calling the shots for the Democrats. The balloons apparently weren't dropping fast enough for him … Whoops!

Job Claims

Speaking of things that probably should not have been overheard, the Bush campaign has always disputed the Democratic claim that the president's policies cause high-quality, high-paying jobs to be replaced by low-quality, low-paying jobs, but one junior Bush campaign aide said if Americans are unhappy with low-quality jobs, "Why don't they get new ones... or go on Prozac?"

The Reuters News Service says its reporter overheard that comment while waiting on the phone to ask a question of campaign officials. When the reporter asked about the comment, the junior aide said — "I was just kidding."

The Bush campaign now says this is the first campaign on which the 24-year-old has ever worked. They strongly insist the comment, "doesn't reflect the president's position." The Bush folks are also accusing Reuters of playing "gotcha journalism."

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report