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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Much of the GOP wants no part of its convention

This should tell you something about Republicans and their brand.
So many GOP lawmakers have sent regrets -- citing tough reelection battles, previous commitments or other scheduling conflicts -- that a Senate official notes 'it's probably easier to say who is attend....


With the hurricane also affecting the event, attendance, and tone, this is going to be a weird convention.

Later, check out this trial balloon,
McCain was scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech Thursday but now may do so from the devastation zone if the storm hits the U.S. coast with the ferocity feared by forecasters.


Really? You think that's what the people there want?

2 Comments:

  • This is one of several reasons that I think McCain will not get any kind of appreciable bounce in the polls from the Convention as Obama did get.

    While the DNC got record viewership, the nation will be distracted by the two hurricanes. (Note: this is not me saying that I wish hurricanes on anyone).

    On top of that, a lot of the stars will not be there. Sheer speculation, but I think they have an idea of what the Convention will be like, and they don't think it will help them. Still, the GOP will be featuring it's third-string for most of the Convention.

    As I mentioned before, the Convention will most likely be a rehashing of everything the McCain campaign has been saying up to now. The DNC actually was an event where important things happened; the RNC will not be. Palin is the only new factor, and it was already going to be about God, God, and a little more God thrown in for good measure.

    Iraq is a losing issue for the GOP, but they will try to make the best of it at the Convention, as you mentioned in the previous post. The majority of the country now thinks Iraq was a mistake and favours Obama's timeline; whether we can 'win' or not is really moot. Bush can praise McCain for making his mistake less severe, but it's still a mistake.

    So the question is, what would the Republicans be getting a bounce from? You don't get a bounce merely for holding a Convention. In 2000, Bush got a big bounce from the RNC. But there were radical new ideas, bold promises, an incumbent in scandal, and a good economy.
    Now we just have promises to continue the eight-year status quo, which is not particularly appealing.

    By Blogger Todd Dugdale , at 9:17 AM  

  • And I do think this is one of the reasons for the Palin pick. It does give energy to a convention from the fundies that might otherwise have decidedly wilted.

    Well, you might get a little bounce just from being on TV, but not enough to be significant, especially in this year where everybody already knows both sides so well.

    I wonder if the media will bendover backwards to try and give McCain the "benefit of the doubt" so they aren't accused of unfairness.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:39 AM  

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