Inside Politics

Nancy backs Bush

Nancy Reagan says she strongly endorses President Bush’s re-election, contrary to an Internet report that asserted she was not backing his run for a second term.

Joanne Drake, the chief of staff for former President Ronald Reagan’s office in Los Angeles, said in a statement on behalf of the former first lady, “Mrs. Reagan supports President Bush’s re-election 150 percent,” NewsMax.com reports.

Published reports have suggested that Mrs. Reagan was unhappy with Mr. Bush for his opposition to taxpayer-funded stem-cell research that destroys human embryos, which Mrs. Reagan has supported after her husband’s long bout with Alzheimer’s disease.

Miss Drake, however, noted in her statement on behalf of Mrs. Reagan, “I think everyone would understand that while she may not agree with the president on every issue, this campaign is more than just one issue — it’s about leadership, and she believes that President Bush is the right man for the job.”

Mrs. Reagan’s statement contradicted a report Friday on the Web site capitolhillblue.com, which claimed Mrs. Reagan was adamantly opposed to Mr. Bush’s re-election, NewsMax reporter Phil Brennan said.

Bouncing a poll

“Four years ago, on the Monday after the Democratic convention, August 21, ‘CBS Evening News’ anchor Bob Schieffer introduced a story by trumpeting how ‘a CBS News poll out shows that Al Gore got a big boost from the Democratic convention. He’s up 10 points and is now in a dead heat with George W. Bush.’ But this year, after a CBS News poll found no bounce for John Kerry as he held at 49 percent, the ‘CBS Evening News’ didn’t find their discovery to be newsworthy,” the Media Research Center reports.

“Not a syllable about it on Monday’s ‘CBS Evening News,’ though a Monday headline on CBSNews.com declared: ‘CBS Poll: No Bounce for Kerry,’ the MRC’s Brent Baker writes at www.mediaresearch.org.

“ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas passed along how an ABC News/Washington Post poll found ‘one of the smallest bounces for a challenger in 32 years,’ but in his story on the poll, Dean Reynolds stressed how Kerry ‘has gained ground on a number of issues.’

“Near the very end of the 10 p.m. EDT CNN ‘Sunday Night,’ anchor Carol Lin introduced CNN political analyst Bill Schneider for ‘a look at the bounce that didn’t happen’ for Kerry. Indeed, in the poll conducted July 30-31 Bush actually gained 3 points while Kerry lost a point. Monday’s ‘Inside Politics’ devoted a segment to the phenomenon with Schneider stressing how few undecided voters there are to be bounced.”

Franks’ book

Retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks defends President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in an autobiography released this week and asserts that Saddam Hussein’s regime did pose a threat to international security, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

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