Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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Okay, people. Deep breaths. Breathe into a brown paper bag if you have to.

My e-mailbox is bursting at the seams with messages, many of which are apparently being sent, via wireless connection from skyscraper ledges, where Kerry Spot readers are standing right now.

“Did Rove get to Middle Cheese? Were the pessimistic Ohio numbers the real story, and now Rove is trying to suppress it?”

Jeez, this is the kind of paranoid thinking I expect from Michael Moore, or his followers like Osama bin Laden.

Here’s how it went down. Some GOP group - not the Bush-Cheney campaign - is/was doing polling in Ohio, and found lousy numbers for Bush on Sunday.

These pollsters told a GOP guy, who mentioned it to “Middle Cheese,” my source familiar with discussions in senior Republican circles.

Middle Cheese tells me, and I report this information to Kerry Spot readers. Because I believe it’s important to give readers the whole story, whether it’s good news for Bush or good news for Kerry.

After I post the information, Middle Cheese has more conversations, and finds that Bush campaign folks say nope, our numbers for Sunday looked fine. Another individual, familiar with discussions at the White House, says the same thing. "Our numbers didn't show that... must be bad sample." They tell Middle Cheese. Middle Cheese tells me. I update the Kerry Spot with new information.

What are people complaining about - finding out about things as soon as I hear them from reliable sources? Or the speedy update with the new information?

A couple of readers in the paranoid MM-OBL vein write in insisting that I divulge “the real story” that I’m hiding. “Why not come clean with people?” they ask.

(righteous indignation building) I am clean with people. You get the straight stuff from my sources. I resent accusations to the contrary with no supporting evidence.

I’m also getting slews of e-mails asking, “What does Middle Cheese say? What does Obi-Wan say? When is the next update?”

The short answer is, you’ll hear from them when you hear from them. They do have day jobs, and can’t spend the entire day giving news tips and analysis to the Kerry Spot. As soon as I get information, you’ll get it.

You want something to panic or get angry about? Fox News just featured Ana Marie Cox aka Wonkette, during a discussion about blogs. That's the sort of thing that sends people to ABC News for their election night coverage - along with, well, you know... featuring me.

[Posted 11/01 01:41 PM]