Convention success puts Kerry ahead in polls
Julian Borger in Boston
Saturday July 31, 2004
The Guardian
John Kerry opened up a modest lead in the US presidential race
yesterday after a four-day Democratic convention in which he
cast himself as a cool-headed warrior.
A telephone poll published overnight gave the senator a
five-percentage point advantage over President George Bush, but
that poll was taken before Mr Kerry's nationally televised speech
to his party on Thursday.
Early signs yesterday suggested that the 45-minute speech,
which promised "a smarter, more effective war on terror", with
more emphasis on diplomacy, had gone down well with its most
important target audience - undecided voters.
"These undecided voters came into the convention anti-Bush,
but they left pro-Kerry," said Frank Luntz, of the Luntz Research
polling organisation, which conducted the survey for MSNBC
television.
Mr Kerry's generally good reviews and apparent boost in the
polls lifted the Democratic party's morale as the candidate and
his running mate, John Edwards, launched a coast-to-coast tour
of swing states, starting in Pennsylvania, in an attempt to
capitalise on the post-convention glow.
They are well aware it will be the Republicans' turn, in just over a
month's time, to monopolise the airwaves with their own
convention in New York.
It was clear yesterday that Senator Kerry, who has a reputation
of being worthy and wooden in his rhetoric, had surpassed
expectations and given a stirring performance.
Even before the Democratic candidate spoke, the campaign
appeared to have edged slightly ahead of President George
Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney, according to an
overnight telephone poll by Zogby International.
The survey of 1001 likely voters, conducted over the four days of
the convention showed the Kerry-Edwards ticket leading the
Bush-Cheney one by 48 to 43 percentage points.
However, Republican critics pointed out that while Mr Kerry's
speech and much of the convention dwelt on his relatively brief
spell in Vietnam, it had much less to say about his 19 years in
the senate.
They cite his 2002 vote to authorise Mr Bush to go to war in
Iraq, and his subsequent vote against an $87bn (about £48bn)
supplemental funding request for the Iraq war effort.
The New York Times agreed that as well as talking about his
Vietnam days, Mr Kerry would have "to be careful to devote time
to the rest of his resumé as well".
But in its editorial, the newspaper agreed with the general
post-Boston consensus that: "As an introduction to the
candidates, the Democratic convention, on the whole, did its
job."
The final Boston roundup
Reaching hearts through tummies
Meals thought to have been served: 165,000 Cups of coffee:
75,000 Coffee: 1,080kg Chocolate bars: 8,500 Deli meat:
2,700kg Tomatoes: 540kg Shrimp: 2,250kg Beer: 3,000 cases
totalling 51,300 litres Wine: 1,000 cases Clam chowder: 2,755
litres Cutlery used: 500,000 knives, forks and spoons
Biggest winner
Barack Obama Before the convention, the Illinois state
legislator was best known for a name that rhymes with Osama.
After possibly the best speech of the week on Tuesday, he is
being talked of as a potential 2008 presidential contender
Biggest loser
Don Mischer It had all been going so well until the last minute,
when the convention producer unwittingly became famous. A
CNN microphone was left on when he was screaming for
balloons and confetti to come down and wondering aloud to his
staff: "What the fuck are you guys doing up there?"
Young Americans play Bowie
Songs played by the Democrats during the convention included
No Surrender, by Bruce Springsteen, and - oddly - Young
Americans, by David Bowie, which alludes to dysfunctional and
disaffected youth
Ben Affleck takes the bus
Ben Affleck, a ubiquitous presence at the convention this week,
plans to leave Boston by bus on Friday with the newly minted
presidential nominee. He will campaign with Kerry and Edwards
throughout weekend stops in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and
Ohio. Kerry and Edwards plan to cover 21 states during a
two-week tour by bus, boat and train.
guardian.co.uk |
