September 04, 2004

THE BOUNCE BEGINS

On Hugh Hewitt's show yesterday we were both crowing and hollerin' about the convention's success and how it would push Bush's numbers up. But I don't think either of us expected this:

For the first time since the Presidential race became a two person contest last spring, there is a clear leader, the latest TIME poll shows. If the 2004 election for President were held today, 52% of likely voters surveyed would vote for President George W. Bush, 41% would vote for Democratic nominee John Kerry, and 3% would vote for Ralph Nader, according to a new TIME poll conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2.

Note: this poll was taken before Bush's speech. It's the Zell Miller bounce! Well, maybe with some help from these guys. And an extra assist from John Kerry himself:

Let us not speculate about him saying, "I have five words for America: This is your wake up call." (Count them.)

Go back to sleep, Senator.

(Via Instapundit. By the way, Hugh, you've got listeners in Australia; a bunch of emails arrived from people back home who happened to be tuned in when I appeared. Once they learn of this internet-radio deal, our friendly cultural protectionists will probably try to ban you.)

Posted by Tim Blair at September 4, 2004 09:37 AM
Comments

Damn it! My staff said it was five words!

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at September 4, 2004 at 09:41 AM

Maybe he thought "wake up" was one word.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at September 4, 2004 at 09:43 AM

Yeah, Andrea, can't "wake-up" be hyphenated?

Congrats to Tim, Zell, W, Repubs on all of the good news for at least a day or two. Fingers crossed.

Posted by: good speler at September 4, 2004 at 09:52 AM

And in New Zealand as well :-)

Posted by: Berend de Boer at September 4, 2004 at 10:13 AM

Say goodnight, Kerry...

Posted by: Quentin George at September 4, 2004 at 10:19 AM

All I can say is:

Democrat Faithful: Rock us, Dukakis!

Kerry: YEEEEEEEEEEARRGGHHH!!!

Posted by: Quentin George at September 4, 2004 at 10:35 AM

Please excuse my "Grammar Goddess" moment, but it should be hyphenated and counted as only one word when used as a modifier, i.e., "wake-up call."

Posted by: cardeblu at September 4, 2004 at 11:28 AM

Let's not get hung up on whether or wake-up is one word, when there's the much bigger issue-- what kind of a dork goes around talking like a macho frat boy at 60? "Bring it on," "I have five words for you..." By election day it'll be "I just want to say, Mr. President, you can bite me" and "I know you are, but what-- am-- I!"

Posted by: Mike G at September 4, 2004 at 11:32 AM

At a crucial but unforeknown moment, you will be expected to sing these words from memory:

Everyone knows the ’Rat of the land,
Ever so childish, weary, & bland,
Words he will drone when cameras appear,
And how his fans snooze when he is near.

They call him Flipper! Flipper! shiftier than lightning,
No one you seeee is smarter than heeee,
And we know Flipper! lives in a world full of nuance,
Fighting for and aaah-gainst you and me.

P.S.—in HARMONY.

Posted by: ForNow at September 4, 2004 at 01:34 PM

ForNow;
Superb!
Of course will now be looking for you to come up with ever more "nuanced" but accurate doggerel. Hope you didn't hit your only home run the first time I've seen you bat.
Of course, if you're an Aussie, the foregoing will probably be an incomprhensible mixed metaphor.
Regardless, thanks for adding to my enjoyment of the day.
Mike

Posted by: Mike Daley at September 4, 2004 at 02:34 PM

Mike G -- you're really complaining that Kerry sounds like a frat boy?

Oh, and there's plenty of people who spell wakeup as one word:

St Petersburg Times
Morning Call
Mercury News
Boston Globe
Kansas City Star
Daily Times
Centre Daily Times
etc etc

Posted by: Robert at September 4, 2004 at 04:21 PM

Yes, Kerry did look like a guy who lost the food money at last night's poker game, and wanted to blame it on "the guys". Interesting that "the bounce" came before the great new jobs numbers...

"We want to talk about the economy, not the Vietnam...the numbers say what???...We want to talk about healthcare or saving sea urchins!!!"

As someone else posted, All Hat and No Cambodia...

Posted by: JoJo at September 4, 2004 at 04:38 PM

Mike, thank you. For previous doggerel, see this thread:
http://timblair.spleenville.com/archives/006883.php

Also, this thread:
http://timblair.spleenville.com/archives/006153.php

Then, only afterward, this thread:
http://timblair.spleenville.com/archives/007347.php

Posted by: ForNow at September 4, 2004 at 05:06 PM

Zell was one of my favorite speakers at the RNC. Too bad he's getting so trashed in the press right now.

Posted by: Chris Josephson at September 4, 2004 at 11:46 PM

Well, I've got one word for Kerry:

Theelectionisover

SMG

Posted by: SteveMG at September 5, 2004 at 07:15 AM

Whoa. We're getting ahead of ourselves here. Remember what Yogi Berra used to say - it ain't over till the fat lady sings. I anticipated a Bush surge once GWB started campaigning - like I said, I learned not to bet against him after he beat McCain and then Gore in 2000. But it's too early to count those electoral votes as yet. Be mentally prepared for a steady erosion in these numbers as the poll date approaches.

Posted by: Zhang Fei at September 5, 2004 at 08:26 AM

I agree. The only poll that counts is held on Election Day.

Posted by: The Real JeffS at September 5, 2004 at 08:48 AM

Yogi Berra said “it ain’t over till it’s over,” bringing the whole stream of “it ain’t over till X” lines to a peremptory but welcome close.

Posted by: ForNow at September 5, 2004 at 11:50 AM

"That sonofabitch added a word!"

Posted by: richard mcenroe at September 5, 2004 at 01:13 PM

But 'is' is not a real word it's short for ....

Posted by: drscroogemcduck at September 5, 2004 at 06:04 PM