Inside Politics

Bush moves ahead

In a two-week stretch that included more positive economic news and mixed reports from the troubled Middle East, President Bush continued to improve his standing among Americans in key states, wresting the lead in the race for the White House from Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the latest Zogby Interactive poll shows.

The poll, conducted June 14-19, shows Mr. Bush would win 285 Electoral College votes, compared to 253 for Mr. Kerry.

It marks the first time in the three polling periods conducted so far that Mr. Bush has taken the lead in the race, gaining 43 electoral votes in the last two weeks and 67 in the last month. But races in many states are still so close as to leave the result unclear, the polling firm said.

Help from friends

The company distributing filmmaker Michael Moore’s Bush-bashing movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” says it won’t reject an offer of help from Middle East terrorist organization Hezbollah, WorldNetDaily.com reports.

The Web site had reported earlier that terrorists affiliated with the Iran-backed network last week offered to help promote the film in the United Arab Emirates.

The movie industry publication Screen Daily reported, “In terms of marketing the film, [distributor] Front Row is getting a boost from organizations related to Hezbollah, which have rung up from Lebanon to ask if there’s anything they can do to support the film.”

The story then quotes Front Row Managing Director Gianluca Chacra: “We can’t go against these organizations, as they could strongly boycott the film in Lebanon and Syria.”

Terror-war supporting organization Move America Forward publicized the Chacra quote and reacted strongly against it, WorldNetDaily said.

“Michael Moore dismisses Americans who are upset with his film and the impact it has in undermining support for the war against terrorism,” said Melanie Morgan, vice chairman of Move America Forward. “At the same time, his distribution companies are concerned about offending the sensibilities of terrorists. That certainly gives rise to asking the question: Whose side are you on?”

DeMint tops Beasley

Three-term Rep. Jim DeMint of South Carolina easily beat former Gov. David Beasley yesterday to win a Republican primary runoff in the race for a U.S. Senate seat.

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