Kerry 5, Bush 3

Smackdown, week 8

• New polls show Bush gaining small lead over Kerry, despite weeks of bad news (WaPo, USA Today, CNN)
• Kerry campaign refuses to release military records one day after Kerry says he would (Boston Globe)
• War may require more appropriations before election (WaPo)
• Kerry releases military records (Boston Globe, NYT)
• Senior Republican senator raises possibility of a draft (AFP)
• Blasts in Basra kill many, including over 20 children (AP, NYT)
• Kerry's military records show he was highly praised (AP)
• Kerry's fundraising exceeds Bushes during the 1st quarter of 2004 (Kerry Blog)

This was a difficult week to judge. The situation in Iraq isn't really getting any better, but the Bushies were buoyed in the media by reports that his standing in polls was virtually unaffected by the bad news of the last few weeks (both Iraq and the 9/11 commission). On the other side, the Kerry camps initial stumble with the war records issue turned into a positive when the quick release of the records produced a raft of glowing news stories about his time in Vietnam. My standard in judging each week has been whose shoes would I would prefer to be in each week. Neither candidate really had a good or a bad week. However, when you compare Bush's week to the last few bad weeks he has been having, you'd have to say that his situation improved the most. Thus, the week goes to Bush.

(previous week's smackdown)