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From last night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
OLBERMANN: For the first time, we have Democrats and Republicans certainly agreeing that whatever bounce George Bush got from the convention, it's not going to last.
We can understand the Democratic voters here. But are the Republicans being realistic or are they trying to play it safe, because if 11 points don't hold up, and most people saying they can't, with their convention being the last preplanned bounce event of the campaign, would Mr. Bush be going to look like he was stalling or in trouble somehow?
CRAIG CRAWFORD (Congressional Quarterly): Yes, I'd be a little scared if I was the Bush people on all this 11-point lead talk. It sounds great and they needed some good news. But beware a Labor Day lead, Keith.
I went back and looked at the last three campaigns that have been this close, and in two out of the three, the candidate trailing on Labor Day ended up winning the election, the most recent example being George Bush himself. We were talking four years ago about the invincible Al Gore right now coming out of his convention.
OLBERMANN: And the Democrats are saying what, here, that we had a month of swift boats and Rudy Giuliani and Zell Miller speeches and it ain't over until it's over?
CRAWFORD: Well, Democrats have a problem. They wring their hands in public too much, and they think reporters are their friends and they talk to them on background. And so now we're getting all these stories about nervous Democrats. And I don't think that's helping any. They're talking about their candidate not being strong enough. And there's just too much airing of dirty laundry in public by the Democrats. I don't think that helps Kerry's cause at all.
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