DICTATORS DON'T MAKE UP DEFICITS, THEY MAKE-UP THE "VOTE":

Hugo Chavez wins Venezuela vote with solid margin (TYLER BRIDGES, 2/16/09, McClatchy News Service)

Polls by Datanalisis, a Caracas-based survey firm, showed that Chavez made up a 17-point deficit in the campaign's final six weeks. He did it, Datanalisis said, by targeting the 20 percent of the electorate who said Chavez had been a good president but who were reluctant to allow him to remain in power indefinitely.