Controlling the Conversation
Nobody's talking about the economy, despite its growing limp and the fact that Bush's goals/forecasts from only 6 months ago have been off, terribly.

Nobody's talking about Iraq anymore, despite the virtually unwinnable situation it would seem to be for the US.

Nobody's talking about Afghanistan anymore, where President Karzai is in the process of legitimizing Taliban leaders as a last-ditch effort to save any hope of stability amid Taliban raids and attacks on governmental and election workers.

Instead we're talking about terrorist threats here, how we're not safe, according to the President, and whether or not Kerry is a true war hero or a fraud.

How do they manage to always control the terms of debate? Economy isn't sensational enough for the media; the only way the press knows how to discuss Iraq is in political terms, about Kerry's votes authorizing war and denying 87 billion dollars. And Afghanistan is just so 2002 they've lost interest.