Posted 10:11 AM by Robert

The Importance Of Being Bouncy II

Democrats and media representatives, just keep chanting your mantra:

There can be no Republican convention bounce, because there are almost no persuadable voters.

There can be no Republican convention bounce, because there are almost no persuadable voters.

There can be no Republican convention bounce, because there are almost no persuadable voters.

There can be no Republican convention bounce, because there are almost no persuadable voters.

etc.

And, gee, I wonder how the Hispanic voters are bouncing today after the Governor Schwarzenegger they are so fond of here in California gave that wonderful Convention riff?

Why would the Democratic Convention be bounceless but maybe not the Republican Convention? Well, in addition to everything else, maybe it matters that more people care to watch the Republicans, as the Wall Street Journal notes:

The Zogby Interactive poll finds that Americans are tuning into the Republican convention more so than they did to the Democratic convention. In the poll, 65% said they have watched some coverage of the convention; at the same point in the Boston convention, 56% said they had tuned in. This time, just 7.3% said they have no plans to watch any of the remaining coverage, while 26% answered that way during the Democratic convention.

And, you, Tom Daschle, keep on hugging!

I know that 50%-48% poll is only a paper moon with a 4.5% MoE, and put out by Republican outfit, to boot. So at this point the question mark in "The Start Of The Final, Dying Fall?" has to stay where it is. But isn't it remarkable that Tom Daschle has a tie on his hands? With all his time in the Senate and all his opportunities to bring home the bacon to little South Dakota, he should be cruising in the stratosphere.

Tom Daschle may well lose in the flotsam of Kerry's hideous South Dakota wake. The state's voters are famously "pragmatic," and hanging Daschle out the window every six years does focus the Senator's mind on the federal agricultural pork he has in the past used to molify much of his electorate.

But many of the anti-Bush positions Senator Daschle has been forced to take as Senate Minority Leader have drawn a lot of unfavorable attention in South Dakota - so the "pragmatism" has more to overcome this time. And now GOP control of the both Senate and the House seems secure and if Mr. Daschle is reelected the entire South Dakota Congressional delegation will be in the minority. That wouldn't be very "pragmatic," would it?

Poor Tom Daschle! Someone one said that "pragmatism" is like a warm bath with the hot water left running - at first it's comfortable but at some point one can't quite define the bather wants to scream. Tom Daschle must be trying to identify that point right now.

If the country as a whole is already Convention-bouncing like this, I'll bet that the bounce in SD is enough to send TD right over Mt. Rushmore on the rebound. Yep, looks like they're already getting a lot of Kerry-Edwards flotsam in South Dakota to me.

MORE: Another Rasmussen index bounces:

Thursday September 02, 2004--Fifty-four percent (54%) of American voters say they approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role as President. Forty-six percent (46%)disapprove. The 54% Approval rating is the highest for the President since April 26.

On August 30 the President's approval rating in the Rasmussen survey was 51%.

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