Dark Bilious Vapors

the favorite candidate in the presidential election is "none of the above".

In the opening stages of the presidential campaign in this habitual battleground state, the news for President Bush is far from encouraging. For his Democratic challenger, John F. Kerry, it's even worse.

The escalating death toll in Iraq has elevated concerns about the U.S. commitment there, with voters unsettled by their fear that Bush has no plan for success and frustrated by their conviction that there may be no alternative but to stay the course.

At home, a sense of anxiety remains over the strength of the economic recovery, the loss of manufacturing jobs and the export of American jobs to overseas. "I was not scared five years ago," said Judy Bierman, 50, a homemaker who learned recently that a 50-year-old friend was about to be laid off. "Now it's scary; it's scary all the time."

The apprehensions over war and the economy represent clear obstacles in the president's path to reelection and an opening for Kerry. But the Massachusetts senator has problems of his own. At this point, he is barely part of the political conversation, particularly among the relatively small percentage of voters who have not picked sides.

...

Yet when pushed to say how they would vote if the election were held now, Bush narrowly prevailed over Kerry in both groups, with several undecided. The reason has much more to do with Kerry than Bush. Kerry has other problems to deal with before he can take advantage of the president's problems.

Brice Evans, 44, a letter carrier, said, "I think Missouri would go Democratic, but I don't think they like Kerry that much. . . . I think he'll get eaten alive when it comes to a one-on-one debate with Bush."

Len on 05.02.04 @ 04:04 PM CST