Bounceless Convention

Nick Gillespie | August 2, 2004

Gallup is reporting that Kerry/Edwards got no bounce out of the Democratic National Convention.

Compared with the last CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey conducted before the convention (July 19-21), this post-convention poll shows that among likely voters, Kerry's support is actually two points lower than it was pre-convention, while Bush's support is three points higher. Among registered voters, Kerry's support in the current poll is one point higher than it was pre-convention, while Bush's support is also higher, by two points (the percentage of undecideds dropped in both groups).

More details here.

Before Bush's droogs break out the bubbly, they should consider that their own national spectacle, coming at the end of the month in New York, may well work its own negative magic (if the past is any guide, it's sure to be horrorshow, and not in the good sense of the term). Since 1988, we've been in an age of plurality presidents, one strong sign that we're disappointed with major-party picks. Perhaps we're now entering a full-blown phase in which the more voters learn of candidates, the less they like them. Familiarity breeds contempt, after all, in politics as in everything else.