No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

State of the Presidential election as of August 20 - My opinion

As of right now, this Christian Science Monitor article seems to describe the Presidential election well.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0820/p01s03-uspo.html

Here is an excerpt:

?Certainly, Bush's incumbency hasn't produced a clear boost in the polls so far: His job-approval ratings have been hovering at or just below 50 percent, the danger zone for a sitting president. History suggests that presidents often have a harder time winning over undecided voters - who typically break in favor of the challenger. And most polls currently show Kerry with a slim lead overall.

But that could change as Bush continues to dominate the spotlight over the next few weeks, drawing attention to his successes and his vision for the next four years.

Likewise, Bush can put himself ahead by raising more doubts about Kerry.

Already, Kerry has been struggling to beat back an onslaught of attacks on his Vietnam service record by a third-party group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Initially, the campaign relied on surrogates to meet the attacks, hoping not to elevate the group's profile with a direct response.

That may have been a tactical mistake: As the group's charges have continued to receive attention, the Kerry campaign has had to become more aggressive in refuting them. Thursday, Kerry himself addressed the matter in a speech to firefighters, saying: "This group isn't interested in the truth - and they're not telling the truth," and calling it "a front for the Bush campaign."

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Kerry has now taken action to tie Bush directly to the SBVT people, and has done so very adroitly. His own request that MoveOn stop a negative ad attacking Bush?s use of the Texas Air National Guard to avoid Viet Nam service places Bush?s refusal to request the SBVT people to stop their advertisements in a very bad light.

Also, Kerry?s timing has been interesting. He brought the issue out into the open in time to make the weekend news, and also the day before the New York Times presented an extensive article debunking the claims in the SBVT book and advertisement.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/politics/campaign/20swift.html?hp

The New York Times has also put together this neat little graphic that demonstrates the very close ties the SBVT people have with bush.
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/08/19/politics/campaign/20040820swift_graph.gif
It begins to look like the effort to smear Kerry may blowback and damage Bush.

But that?s just now. It is still two-and-a-half months to the election, and who knows what will happen in the meantime?