Article: Electoral roulette; Close race puts candidates under the gun.(OPED)

Byline: Tod Lindberg, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

If I were running a presidential campaign, I would rather have a slight lead in the polls than a slight deficit plus a theory about why my opponent's lead either wasn't real or didn't matter. On the basis purely of being on the side of the more likely winner, I would now rather be in the position of the Bush campaign than of the Kerry campaign. But the race is so close that the difference in the probability of either side winning is miniscule.

Put it this way: A guy walks up to the roulette wheel in Las Vegas with his life's savings in hand, intent on risking it all on one spin: He'll either be broke or rich ...

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