Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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Newsweek appears to break some ground on CBS’ sources, presuming these guys’ methods of collecting information and verifying it are more reliable than those of CBS.

The report by Howard Fineman and Michael Isikoff reveals:

* Mary Beth Cahill, Kerry’s campaign manager, was “among the first congratulatory calls Ben Barnes received in Austin late last Wednesday night.”

* On the ground, a hard-core Kerry group is setting up a new "oppo" squad. Tentatively called Sealords II—Kerry's Mekong Delta mission in Vietnam was known as Sealords—the group has a $1 million budget and will be housed at the Democratic National Committee, where, one of its members says, the mission will be "message, debate prep, attack, attack."

(Observation: This appears to be an updated version of the “dog hunters,” the group of Vietnam Vet buddies of Kerry who attacked his opponents in his Massachusetts races. Another observation: Whether you think Kerry was a hero or a egomaniac or both in his service, is tough to deny that Kerry is obsessed with Vietnam. Even opposition research groups have to get nicknames from that era?)

* Rumors about the memos had circulated in the Democratic Party and media circles for weeks; in fact, CBS had used their existence to help persuade Barnes to talk. He told Democratic friends before the "60 Minutes II" broadcast that if documents the network was hunting for were found—and were authentic—"the election is over."

(In one of the great understatements of our time, Newsweek reports, “Well, it is not entirely certain that they are authentic.”)

* A principal source for CBS's story was Bill Burkett, a disgruntled former Guard officer who lives in Baird, Texas, who says he was present at Guard headquarters in Austin in 1997, when a top aide to the then Governor Bush ordered records sanitized to protect the Boss. Other Guard officials disputed Burkett's account, and the Bush aide involved, Joe Allbaugh, called it "absolute garbage." Burkett may have a motive to make trouble for the powers that be. In 1998, he grew gravely ill on a Guard mission to Panama, causing him to be hospitalized, and he suffered two nervous breakdowns. He unsuccessfully sued for medical expenses.

The headline of the piece, “Slime Time Live, In your face: Fueled by shadowy cash, the attacks get uglier and uglier. Why the mud's flying so thick and fast” actually have almost nothing to do with Newsweek’s investigation into the sourcing of CBS’ report. And the closing paragraph, which laments that "much more slime" is to come before November, is typically meaningless, 'a-pox-on-both-your-houses', 'they-all-do-it' mush.

One other odd note about the Newsweek piece. It claims, based solely on Newsweek polls, that the drop in Bush's lead from 11 percentage points to 5 means Bush's bounce has "largely" disappeared. Uh, half of 11 is 6. That's "largely"?

Will Bush's lead eventually fade? Almost certainly. But Newsweek's poll is closer than other recent ones, and they ought to acknowledge that.

[Posted 09/12 10:21 PM]