Pages: « Prev 1 [2] 3 4 5 Next » ... Last (21)
As you know, I didn’t think much of Kerry’s speech last night — for me, it was utterly unmemorable, and that’s bad for someone who is trying to captivate the public during his one big, “unfiltered” moment on stage — and plenty of people agree with me. But there are dissenting views, from some predictable and some surprising sources.
Unsurprisingly, my dad thinks Kerry did better than I think he did. “I thought it was good. … Oratorically Kerry is not a WJ Clinton… nor an Obama, an Edwards, even a Teddy back in his day. :) But — we KNEW that. Expecting him to suddenly become Ronald Reagan, stylistically, is to raise the bar too high.” [That’s true, but even an oratorical non-Clinton can give a memorable speech, and this, for me, was not one. -ed.] My dad concludes: “I think Kerry was Good Enough.”
Much more surprisingly, Mickey Kaus — who hates Kerry, who has been railing against Kerry for months, who has been my “Dem Panic” mentor — liked Kerry’s speech. He initially used the same phrase as my dad, “good enough.” But then he elaborated, and sounded more enthusiastic in doing so: “Substantive, non-cheap Bush-bashing! Populism muted-to-nonexistent! Above all, Kerry seemed less pompous, like a guy you could conceivably live with for four years… I predict a measurable bounce, if anybody was watching.”
Most surprisingly of all — stunning, really — are the results of the post-speech AOL poll, emailed to me by my dad at 11:54 PM MST last night. Experience teaches that AOL poll voters are more conservative than the public at large, generally resulting in right-leaning results, but not this time:
How would you rate Kerry’s speech?
Excellent 56%
Poor 18%
Fair 14%
Good 12%Who would do a better job as president?
John Kerry 62%
George Bush 38%Total Votes: 97,434
Of course, perhaps the most telling statistic there is that 74% of respondents voted either “Excellent” or “Poor”; barely a quarter chose either of the moderate middle choices, “Fair” or “Good.” (What Polarized America?)
But never mind that. The positivity toward Kerry is very telling, too, or at least I hope so! Either there were a whole lot of Kerry trolls lurking on AOL last night trying to rig the poll, or else Kerry made some serious headway with a tough crowd.
Ah, but we shall see. I’m sure there will be reams of polling data within days. Already (again via my Dad), a Zogby poll taken during the convention shows Kerry opening a 5-point lead (though his numbers were static since the previous poll; it’s Bush who lost suppost into the “Undecided” column). Rasmussen Reports shows JK opening up a three-point lead.
|
Categories: Election 2004
|
“I wasn’t sure how to feel without the sight of tumbling balloons to symbolize overflowing excitement,” writes Ann Althouse. “I want a President who will never ask me to sit through an hour-long speech without a plan for releasing the balloons.” Heh.
Here’s the AP story about Balloongate. The Boston Globe has a balloon story, too, making the inevitable 1980 comparison: “In what was later cited as an omen of a doomed campaign, President Jimmy Carter waited in vain for balloons to rain on him at the 1980 Democratic convention.” (My previous Balloongate posts are here and here.)
Above: Tens of thousands of balloons stuck on the ceiling!
|
Categories: Election 2004
|
@messaging.sprintpcs.comCatching the bus to work for the last time!
|
Categories: Mobile Blog (Moblog)
|