The bounce is here, and it’s bigger than I would have expected.
The latest Time poll shows Bush with a double digit lead against John Kerry, 52% to 41%.
Granted, it won’t stay that high for long, but it is clear that the message of the Republican Convention got through to the voters and President Bush delivered both the strength and substance that voters are looking for in these troubled times. Even I was wondering if Bush could pull it off going into Thursday – perhaps knowing Bush’s history I should have been more optimistic.
Newsweek also has Bush up by 11: 54 to 43.
Let’s keep in mind that both Time and Newsweek are not exactly friendly to Bush…it makes one wonder what Bush’s lead really is.
That being said, we cannot afford to become complacent, but should allow this good news to give us greater energy and confidence in our efforts to reelect the President.
Mark Steyn sums it up perfectly:
On opening night in Boston, the Democrats staged a tasteful, teary candlelight remembrance of those who died on 9/11. On opening night in New York, the Republicans put up one speaker after another — John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Ron Silver — resolved that those thousands of innocents shall not have died in vain.
I remember a couple of days after Sept. 11 writing that weepy candlelight vigils were a cop-out: the issue wasn’t whether you were sad about the dead people but whether you wanted to do something about it. Three years on, the two conventions drew the same distinction. If you want passivity and wallowing in victim culture, the Dems will do. If you want to win this thing, Bush is the only guy running.
I imagine the bounce will evaporate when people realize that everything Bush promised to do were the things he’s failed to do in the past four years when he was already President.