"Matthew Dowd, President Bush's chief campaign strategist,
is not just the man who conducts the president's polling.
He also works to control public perceptions about where the
presidential race stands, perhaps more aggressively than
many other campaign aides in his position. ...
'I just want to make sure people have a realistic view,'
said Mr. Dowd, whose official title is 'chief strategist,'
in an interview Friday. 'There are highs that are going to
go down, there are lows that are going to go up. I'm not
just trying to argue with news that is perceived as bad -
I'm trying to argue against wrong news, good or bad, like a
newspaper journalist might.' Underlying the strategy is the belief among political
strategists with both parties that poll results can become
self-fulfilling prophecies, contributing greatly to the
direction of a campaign by causing enthusiasm or
demoralization."