http://www.pandagon.net/mtarchives/000085.html<snip>
Republicans are already putting out the "we'll sweep the country" line, which shows more desperation than it does confidence.
This is what Rove does. He puts out overconfident lines to create the impression that his candidate is stronger than he actually is, knowing that the media will simply cover the storyline in its usual manner - whoever puts the storyline forward first gets it covered as the status quo.
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Clark? "Too muddled, came too late, thinks everyone's going to be impressed by the medals. We'll sweep the country."
Kerry? "He's the ketchup man - he'll be playing catch up with us the entire time. We'll sweep the country."
Gephardt? "Other than the unions, he's got no support, and we'll kill him on being a Democrat (sic) obstructionist in the House. We'll sweep the country."
Lieberman? "The most serious candidate, and the one who's the most dangerous to get American voters confused as to who's what party. We'll sweep the country, though. He's Jewish."
Edwards? "His populist message will never play with anyone. We'll sweep the country."
Dean? "He's ultra-left, for reasons we'll determine later. Nobody will buy into his campaign. We'll sweep the country."
Sharpton/Kucinich/Moseley-Braun: No, actually, they would sweep the entire country.