Shop Talk II

Richard Cohen:

What’s particularly telling is that Bush and Kerry have traded places on two key issues — national security and the economy. Where Bush once lagged, he is now in the lead.

Polls are snapshots, and we are cautioned not to make too much of them. The only poll that counts, or so the cliche goes, is the one conducted on Election Day, and the Kerry people would like to add one more banality: The campaign has just begun. Maybe, but it looks to me like it may be over.

Why? Well, in the first place, it’s hard to envisage things getting even worse for Bush. The past month should have been ruinous, and yet the president not only survived, he thrived.

You might want to read the whole thing.