WASHINGTON, 11 May 2004 — As more photos emerge depicting shameful evidence of torture of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison, observers wonder why the evidence have not put the Bush administration in a tailspin.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration and senior Republicans have rallied around their embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejecting escalating calls for his resignation.

Yesterday morning, President George Bush traveled to the Pentagon to speak in defense of his secretary of defense, issue reassurances that the US occupation of Iraq is going well, and reassure the world that prosecution of those responsible for torture at Abu Ghraib is in progress.

Rumsfeld himself seems frozen in headlights, unusual for this dapper man with a glib answer for everything. In a delayed reaction to the horrific jail terror at Abu Ghraib, he waited until late last week to accept responsibility for the abuses and to apologize to the victims, adding he would only resign if he felt he could no longer be effective.

Many Republican loyalists now believe the additional released photos of US military brutality will only compromise Rumsfeld’s effectiveness and make it impossible for him to serve as the public face of the US occupation in Iraq.

All this should help Democratic presidential contender John Kerry soar above the fray, right? In principal, yes. But political observers remain baffled as to why the prison scandal has not helped Kerry, skyrocket in the polls as a much-preferred alternative to the troubled Bush administration.

Kerry still is seem as slightly trailing behind Bush — despite the violent setbacks in Iraq that led to an upsurge in loss of US lives, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, and the fallout from the 9/11 Commission.

Additionally, analysts are still scratching their heads over how a decorated Vietnam War veteran running against a president with curious gaps in his National Guard record has became bogged down explaining whether or not he had thrown away his medals or his ribbons on the front lawn of the White House.

But John Zogby, rated by many as the nation’s most credible pollster, announced yesterday: “Kerry will win the presidential election.”

Zogby says his recent polls show “bad re-election numbers for an incumbent president, and fewer undecided voters this early in the campaign, significant as “historically, the majority of undecided break to the challenger against an incumbent.”

The economy remains the top issue for voters, Zogby says. “The war in Iraq only was only noted by 11 percent as the top issue in March, but jumped to 20 percent in April as a result of bad war news dominating the news agenda.”

“Among those who cited the economy, Kerry leads the president 54 percent to 35 percent. Among those citing the war in Iraq, Kerry’s lead is 57 percent to 36 percent. This is balanced by the 64 percent to 30 percent margin that the president holds over Kerry on fighting the war on terrorism.”

Zogby said the president’s problem is further compounded by the fact that “he is now at the mercy of situations that are out of his control.”

Finally, Zogby says that Kerry has proven he is a “good closer.”

Citing his previous election record, from the 1996 to present, Zogby says:” Something happens to him in the closing weeks of campaigns.”

Zogby calls the presidential race in November: “John Kerry’s to lose.”