The Power of the Jump™: It Depends on What the Meaning of “In Play” Is
(Note: “The Power of the Jump”™ is a semi-regular feature of this site, documenting examples of the Los Angeles Times’s use of its back pages to hide information that its editors don’t want you to see.)
The Los Angeles Times has a front-page story today titled: Long a Republican Bulwark, a Growing Arizona Is in Play. Not until page A20 does the paper tell us what is meant by the term “in play”:
A poll taken for the Arizona Republic and released last week showed Bush ahead of Kerry, 54% to 38%.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!! Bush leads Kerry by 16 points, and the headline says a “Republican bulwark” is “in play.”
I got news for you, L.A. Times. In California, a recent Rasmussen poll shows Kerry leading Bush, 50% to 42%. That’s a mere eight-point difference — half the spread between Bush and Kerry in Arizona.
I look forward to your front-page article tomorrow: “Long a Democratic Bulwark, a Growing California Is in Play.”
(Thanks to alert reader Tom V.)
UPDATE: Drudge says Bush is leading by 14 points, according to the Gallup Poll. [UPDATE: The AP agrees.] That’s great news for Kerry. The whole country is in play!
(Cross-posted at Oh, That Liberal Media.)
UPDATE x2: Thanks to Mickey Kaus for the link! (Something about Mickey always brings out the exclamation points!) I hope first-time visitors who enjoyed this post will bookmark the site and return often. Unless you’re sensitive about the L.A. Times, that is . . . the paper is a fairly frequent target here. (Hey, I’ll stop picking on them if they promise to straighten up and fly right, as my dad used to say.)
UPDATE x3: Thanks to Lucianne for the link, and welcome to Lucianne’s readers! I hope a few of you will check out my main page and come back often.
UPDATE x4: I see Hugh Hewitt made this point yesterday as well, before I did. I wish I had known, so I could have given him appropriate credit. (I wish Hugh would get an RSS feed. That would make it much easier to stay current with his observations.)
UPDATE x5: Hugh is, not surprisingly, very gracious.
Hey, patterico, there is only ONE alert reader and that is hank k. Tell Tom V. to get his own moniker. Sheeeshh!
Comment by ALERT READER hank k — 9/16/2004 @ 6:56 pm
Hey, you feed me a story like this, and you earn the moniker “alert reader.”
What have *you* done for me lately, anyway? I haven’t quoted you in, like, two days!
Comment by Patterico — 9/16/2004 @ 6:59 pm
ARIZONA “IN PLAY” FOR KERRY?
Yeah, if “in play” means trailing by 16 points….
Trackback by The Spoons Experience — 9/16/2004 @ 7:26 pm
LA Times hides the ball
Mickey Kaus reveals the latest example of [ahem] unbiased reporting from the LA Times: “Long A Republican Bulwark, A Growing Arizona Is In Play”: The Los Angeles Times declares Arizona “in play” on Friday’s front page. It’s not until page…
Trackback by Out on a limb at Mike Lief.com — 9/17/2004 @ 12:01 am
“Straighten up and fly right” — my dad constantly said that, too. Turns out it’s a Nat King Cole song title.
Comment by Beldar — 9/17/2004 @ 12:50 am
I would like to see and analogy between Tokyo Rose and Kerry. Tokyo Rose was a Japanese radio broadcaster during WW II. The troups only had the radio to listen to on board ship, and she would tell them that battles had been lost, and for them to give up. She would call names of soldiers or sailors and tell them that their wives were running around on them or that their mothers were ill and dying. She would tell them anything to destroy their morale. She was at least Japanese, Kerry is an American.
Comment by Barbara Jones — 9/17/2004 @ 7:50 am
To clarify Bush’s Guard duty. Most of my miltary experience was in the AF Reserve (except for my infantry duty in WWII). The goal in the Guard and the Reserves was to have a “good” year - earn at least 50 points a year for retention.
Bush achieved this, and one year he earned more than 200 points. His Honorable Discharge attests to his good service. This should be drilled into those at the DNC, most, if not all of whom, have no military service.
Comment by Frank Dukes — 9/17/2004 @ 8:53 am
Arizona isn’t in play but it was close enough a month ago that BC04 and RNC spent time and money in AZ. (They have now pulled some staff from AZ so I assume unless there is an enormouse turnout by Latinos, Navajos and all of Flagstaff/Tucson BC wins) Mr Dukes - LT Bush’s goal in the NG was to avoid fighting in Vietnam. No one disputes he met his obligations the first four years. In 1972-73 LT Bush stopped showing up for months at a time, decided he no longer needed to obey orders and went from being a pilot to a mail jockey - nothing honorable in that
PS - Did you know more Democratic members of Congress have served in the Armed Forces than Republican members?
Comment by salt — 9/17/2004 @ 11:35 am
Salt,
kerry seerved 4 months of a one year tour, and then trashed his fellow servicemen, then treated with the enemy while still “serving”. And Bush slacking off after four years above and beyond his requirements is dishonorable. Salt you need a new dictionary, or read the one you own.
BTW So what, What is Kerry’s Senate record. Oh, and have your hero sign the SF-180.
Comment by edward — 9/17/2004 @ 1:35 pm
Salt,
kerry served 4 months of a one year tour, and then trashed his fellow servicemen, then treated with the enemy while still “serving”. And Bush slacking off after four years above and beyond his requirements is dishonorable. Salt you need a new dictionary, or read the one you own.
BTW So what, What is Kerry’s Senate record. Oh, and have your hero sign the SF-180.
Comment by edward — 9/17/2004 @ 1:35 pm
Salt,
kerry served 4 months of a one year tour, and then trashed his fellow servicemen, then treated with the enemy while still “serving”. And Bush slacking off after four years above and beyond his requirements is dishonorable. Salt you need a new dictionary, or read the one you own.
BTW So what, What is Kerry’s Senate record. Oh, and have your hero sign the SF-180.
Comment by edward — 9/17/2004 @ 1:36 pm
Oops, sorry
Comment by edward — 9/17/2004 @ 1:36 pm
When I was in RVN, it was a 13 month tour, not a 12 month tour. I hate to be picky on that point, but a lot of folks died or were wounded in that 13th month.
Probably had something to do with trying to be careful since you were so close. Sort of like a football player playing not to get hurt. That’s when you get hurt. The 13th month was like that, and Cambodia John only serve 4 months a of 13 month tour…
Comment by Delta Dave — 9/17/2004 @ 1:55 pm
How come that the Dems loved and love Bill Clinton who is a Vietnam’s deserter, and now the only line the utter is “Kerry is a Vienam veteran’?
Comment by Marta D'Coral Gables — 9/17/2004 @ 3:41 pm
Hopeless
Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter on Where Kerry Went Wrong: [Kerry adviser Bob] Shrum’s grand plan wasn’t…
Trackback by The Irish Trojan's Blog — 9/19/2004 @ 4:04 pm
Hopeless
Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter on Where Kerry Went Wrong: [Kerry adviser Bob] Shrum’s grand plan wasn’t…
Trackback by The Irish Trojan's Blog — 9/20/2004 @ 1:27 am
Is the LA Times Still Taken Seriously on the Left Coast?
It was noted in the blogosphere last week when the LA Times insinuated that Arizona was in play with this headline: Long a Republican Bulwark, a Growing Arizona Is in Play Buried in the middle of the story were the actual numbers: A poll taken for the …
Trackback by MartiniPundit — 9/23/2004 @ 8:25 am
Salt spewwed “LT Bush’s goal in the NG was to avoid fighting in Vietnam”.
So your a mindreader? So why did he volunteer for “Palace Alert”?
Get a clue.
“It’s bad enough to have your head up
your ass, it’s worse to have your
head up someone else’s ass.”
Comment by Infidel — 9/25/2004 @ 2:41 pm
ROFL at salt and his band of brothers… Get a life, man. No, better yet, Get a candidate!
Comment by Chidad — 9/26/2004 @ 9:51 am