A new Newsweek poll shows Bush up 6 among likely voters, and 2 among registered voters. Headline: "Too close to call." When Kerry rallied from 6 or 7 behind to a small lead in the last discredited Newsweek poll right after first debate, Newsweek breathlessly put Kerry's surge on the cover.

Now Bush is pulling ahead again, and the race becomes "too close to call."  The effort to spin for Kerry is overwhelming. The Newsweek poll does not give one much comfort that they have a clue as to what is going  on. They show Bush ahead by 6% among women, and down 4 among men. Really? Every other polls shows a smaller gender gap than when Clinton ran, but Bush solidly ahead among men and Kerry ahead by smaller margin among women.

Richard Baehr   10 16 04