Wednesday, March 03, 2004

from Peggy Noonan's current column, the last couple of paragraphs:

But they are convinced it is going to be a close race. That's not just spin to rev the troops; it's their conviction. They don't see us as a 50-50 country but as a 48-48 country, with the fight over the remaining 4% of the population. It took me aback when I heard this--not that it was surprising, but it reminded me of something Lee Atwater told me 20 years ago. Forty percent of the country will vote Democrat no matter what, he said, and 40% will vote Republican. Every presidential contest is a wrestling match for the 20% in the middle.

That was true then, or at least the polls bore it out. Now that 20 has shrunk to four. I'm not sure what that means. No one else is either. But somehow it strikes me as both inevitable and not good.

No comments: