Friday Morning Assignment

Two great editorial pieces in the Times that are well worth perusing: First, Paul Krugman discusses the curious misrepresentation of the candidates standings by the major polls. A sample:

Electoral College projections based on state polls also show a dead heat. Projections assuming that undecided voters will break for the challenger in typical proportions give Mr. Kerry more than 300 electoral votes.

But if you get your political news from cable TV, you probably have a very different sense of where things stand. CNN, which co-sponsored that Gallup poll, rarely informs its viewers that other polls tell a very different story. The same is true of Fox News, which has its own very Bush-friendly poll. As a result, there is a widespread public impression that Mr. Bush holds a commanding lead.

Second, yesterday's editorial calls the Bush administration on its persistent and underhanded use of fearmongering as an election tactic:

Politicians like to tell scary tales about their opponents; the Republicans have been complaining that Mr. Kerry keeps accusing Mr. Bush of secretly planning to reinstate the draft. But what the Bush campaign is doing is far more serious and can't be dismissed as a particularly ridiculous bit of political theater. The Republicans' habit of suggesting that a vote for Mr. Kerry is a vote for the terrorists - a notion that drew an embarrassing endorsement from President Vladimir Putin this week - is a reminder of the reckless way this administration has squandered the public trust on public safety.

They're both worth reading in full. Go on, treat yourself.
Update: regarding campaign scare tactics, this scorecard from Kevin Drum is instructive.