Kos and the New York Times note that Bush Campaign manager Ken Mehlman asked people on his e-mail list to express their opinion on the future vice presidential debate. Mehlman is fairly careful not to tell people to claim that Cheney won the debate which hasn't happened yet. The closest he comes is to tell people to watch the debate then explain why they support the President. That is, at least, assuming that the sight of Cheney debating doesn't convince them that they must at all cost allowing him to stay a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

"Immediately after the debate, visit online polls, chat rooms, and discussion boards and make your voice heard. The major news networks will all have internet polls after the debate. Make sure you vote in polls on:

MSNBC.com
FoxNews.com
ABCNews.com
CNN.com
and even CBS.

Make sure swing state voters know why you support the President by sharing your thoughts on message boards in target states."

Kos doesn't even pretend to be surprised at the confidence Mehlman seems to have that Bush supporters will be willing to claim to perceive Cheney to be the winner no matter what happens.

On the unfair balance front, the NY Times story notes that the Bush campaign is mobilising people who will open mindedly decide that Cheney won before the debate. The headline is

Bush Campaign Asks Supporters to Flood Web

Oddly the headline on the front page of www.nytimes.com is the balanced "Campaigns Ask Supporters to Flood Web" with no justification int he actual article for the use of the present tense with reference to the Kerry campaign and nothing at all on the Nader Badarniak and Larouch campaigns.