Jumping the Gun

The Associated Press, perhaps realizing how overly canned tonight’s upcoming “debate” was going to be, released a post-debate story early.

It was picked up by ABC News, which ran it on its Web site.

It was seen by Certron at lemnisc8.com, who blogged it.

Soon after, it disappeared from the ABCNews.com site.

BUT… there’s always the Web-browser cache, and the article reappeared at furlinedteacup’s site.

Just to be sure, I grabbed the entire article, turned it into an image (large — 1024 x a lot); you can see it here or click the thumbnail below.

Even though the headline seems pre-debate, the article isn’t. Of note are phrases like “The 90-minute encounter was particularly crucial for Kerry…” and “The debates were staged under a rigid set of rules negotiated by the candidates’ representatives to limit spontaneity and opportunities for back-and-forth exchanges.” (Emphasis mine.)

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Update: The story is back, this time on Yahoo News, but with some important changes. For example, the first version said the candidates “got their chance to face each other directly…” while this one says they “will get their chance to face each other directly.” And “The 90-minute encounter was particularly crucial for Kerry….” has been edited to “The 90-minute encounter will be particularly crucial for Kerry….” (Emphases mine.)

We also learn that the piece was penned by “Terence Hunt, AP White House Correspondent.”

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‘Nother update: There are apparently other sources of, as Boing Boing put it, psychics writing about the debate. Over/Spun has a photo caption that reads “U.S. President George Bush shakes hands with Senator John Kerry at the start of their first presidential debate….”

(Again, click the thumbnail to view the whole thing.)