I managed to get internet set up in my apartment finally, so now I can blog on Saturday nights. I should be out having fun, I suppose, but... well, I'm not... I guess I can blame the cold for that... or the fact that the Mexican girl I was going to invite somewhere this weekend had a friend in town. Anyway, here's a bit of news analysis:

The Washington Times is a conservative newspaper but this article about the budget has a decidedly disgruntled tone. This is all over the place. Could the deficit issue fell Bush?

I'm having a bit of cognitive dissonance here. I agree with a lot of things conservatives say when they defend Bush. He was being Keynesian, giving a fiscal stimulus to the economy. Homeland security and the liberations of Afghanistan and Iraq ate up a lot of money. And the Democrats would be worse. It's true, the Democrats, though they may raise taxes a bit, are pushing for lots of new programs. On the other hand, they would be hamstrung by a Republican Congress (most likely) so maybe gridlock would carry the day. But get this: if Bush lost re-election because of the deficit, it would set an excellent precedent that would make future presidents afraid to run them.

Bush is already sounding a bit chastened about the deficit. As far as the deficit is concerned, I hope he wins but narrowly, knowing he can't get away with it again.

It's starting to look like Kerry has it bagged. He's leading in the polls in most of the states that vote next week. Dean is behind Edwards. Edwards could win South Carolina, but so what? He's still done for in the general election.

The interesting thing about Kerry is that the press does not like him. Blogger Mickey Kaus is a fierce critic of Kerry. This guy is a Democrat, by the way, but with an independent streak: he favored Schwarzenegger, for example. This quote (a while back) stuck in my memory:

P.P.S.: Some emailers--not many!--have asked about my preferences. Right now,they are, in order: Edwards / Dean / Gephardt / Lieberman / a Bush-Clark tossup / the complete telephone books of all major American cities / Kerry. ...I'm a character voter, not an "issues" voter. Candidates will change their current "issues" positions after the election. New issues will crop up. The best handle we have to predict how a candidate will actually perform in office is character. ...

The press doesn't like Bush, but would Kerry's personal unattractiveness neutralize its usual liberal bias. We will probably get to find out. Lucky us!