1 Well, one would assume that any poll done would consider only a sample of those who live in areas where the ad is being run, and among those who say they've seen the ads. Given that it's an LA Times story, you're probably right. But at the same time, it doesn't matter; great political ads create their own buzz, and people see them on the internet and on talk shows. Not to mention that some people will not have seen the ads but will have heard their message. So it's entirely appropriate to report on those who claim the ad has altered their position.

2 I have never seen an ad on television at all; I don't think they had enough time to get any on the air. Kerry/Edwards' lawyers filed suits and injunctions as well as injunctions against all major television stations before they even got the ads and thus could not play the ads. The only place to find an ad is on their website and there is only ONE there. Where the other ones are, I have no idea? If these things are hurting Kerry, who sees them to know that? So far, I haven't seen any drop in Kerry's numbers but all people hear about is how the vets are making all this noise putting Kerry down and him blaming Bush, who has nothing to do with those ads at all. It's very disappointing when you have free speech but can't speak. ~C

3 Chaos-I've seen the ads being discussed on the news networks, but never seen them run in their entirety. Usually they just talk about the ads without showing anything. When I have seen the ads the only visual was maybe 5 seconds of the ad and then a voiceover. FBA-they filed a motion for an injunction which is not the same as an injunction from a judge.

4 Where are the real men?? Instead of running to court and government agencies, Kerry should try directly addressing the charges. Is that so hard? Gee whiz. I wish this were the 1940s. Racial segregation would be a problem, but I think I could deal with the rest!

5 Freaking brilliant analysis and limpid writing, too. Why would they stick the candidates' ages in the middle of a paragraph full of poll-percentage numbers? I don't care how old Ralph Nader, 70, is.

6 The point is, Bush's numbers are up, and Kerry's are down. People don't have to see an ad to hear that it casts doubts on Kerry's claims about his service--or that it documents his betrayals once he came back. I had heard that the ads actually aired in a few swing states, but I might have that wrong. The other thing the average semi-apathetic swing voter has probably heard is that Kerry's only reaction was to rail against the ads and try to get them squashed, rather than to actually answer the charges.

7 Iregardless of where the injunction came from Rusty, no station is playing the ads. ~Cindy

8 Cindy-That's just it, there is no injunction. They've aked a judge to block the ads, but the judge has not acted yet. Perhaps the mere threat of the pending case is enough, but I doubt it. The fact that very few ads have been run is probably a) because the Swifties are not very well funde, $400k isn't that much in the world of TV advertisements b) stations refuse to run them because they don't want the controversy to follow them.

9 ARGH!!