After weeks of flagging poll numbers for Bush -- and a media who ignored them -- we get this mysterious story from the LA Times  gleefully cheering "After Flagging Support, a Second Wind for Bush".

One would think that after no stories about Bush's slog, a story of Bush's "second wind" might include a poll. But the only polls cited were taken before the London attacks -- you know, the one statistic in all that time where Bush's positive numbers were actually a few percentage points bigger than his negatives: Bush's handling of the War on Terror. Based on that statistic alone, and numerous quotes from pollsters who have no poll to give us to back up their claims, Bush is "surging" because of his strength on Terror.

I wonder: If there is a "bounce" as they're predicting, will it indeed be due to Bush's reputation as a strong leader? Or the media's framing of the situation that way before they have any qualitative evidence to back them up? 

The media is not your friend. It is your enemy.