Another great article in E&P:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000684885When the smoke clears next Wednesday (if it does) will anyone say that newspaper endorsements helped decide the next president? Given how the editorials are going for George W. Bush this year, the GOP better hope not.
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Surveys by E&P and others in previous years showed that roughly 5 to 10% of voters (or more) felt that editorials had some influence when they cast their ballots. In a battleground state that's not insignificant....At least 35 papers that backed Bush in 2000 have now switched to Kerry, and another nine that supported Bush before have declared their neutrality this year. Only five so far have gone from Gore to Bush.
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More: Mitchell discusses impact of Kerry gains in battleground states of FLORIDA, PENNSYLVANIA, MICHIGAN, IOWA ....and shows that he is generally ahead -- which -- if 5-10% of voters are influenced -- is very very good news.