Saturday, October 16, 2004
There's Something About Mary Cheney
The Vice President's daughter has been in the news lately, with a lot of press being given to her parents' indignant reaction to John Kerry's having mentioned her at the debate. Pollsters are attributing a slight jump in Dubya's polls to this.
Frankly, I think this is a tempest in a teacup. Dubya's favorable numbers jumped 2 points - within the margin of error. Interpreting this is a largely wishful enterprise.
Mary Cheney's orientation has been known to the world for years - it was reasonably common knowledge the last time out. She has been public about it. And if people didn't know, they might have caught Dick or Lynne mentioning it on the campaign trail, or John Edwards mentioning it in the second debate.
Thus, methinks they doth protest too much.
A WaPo poll found that a majority of people viewing the third debate thought that Kerry's mention of Mary was inappropriate. Somehow, that didn't keep Kerry from raking in a solid lead in post-debate "who won" polls. If viewers didn't approve, it doesn't seem that it really affected how they viewed the debate.
The best argument about this is that it disrupted the Democratic post-debate narrative - about Dubya's deceitfulness. I think that point can still be made and it remains up to the Democrats to make it. It's simply too early to tell. Voters are far more likely to ask if they can trust the president when they are sealed in the voting cubicle than they are to ask anything about l'affaire Mary. There's 18 days to go. Chin up.
The Vice President's daughter has been in the news lately, with a lot of press being given to her parents' indignant reaction to John Kerry's having mentioned her at the debate. Pollsters are attributing a slight jump in Dubya's polls to this.
Frankly, I think this is a tempest in a teacup. Dubya's favorable numbers jumped 2 points - within the margin of error. Interpreting this is a largely wishful enterprise.
Mary Cheney's orientation has been known to the world for years - it was reasonably common knowledge the last time out. She has been public about it. And if people didn't know, they might have caught Dick or Lynne mentioning it on the campaign trail, or John Edwards mentioning it in the second debate.
Thus, methinks they doth protest too much.
A WaPo poll found that a majority of people viewing the third debate thought that Kerry's mention of Mary was inappropriate. Somehow, that didn't keep Kerry from raking in a solid lead in post-debate "who won" polls. If viewers didn't approve, it doesn't seem that it really affected how they viewed the debate.
The best argument about this is that it disrupted the Democratic post-debate narrative - about Dubya's deceitfulness. I think that point can still be made and it remains up to the Democrats to make it. It's simply too early to tell. Voters are far more likely to ask if they can trust the president when they are sealed in the voting cubicle than they are to ask anything about l'affaire Mary. There's 18 days to go. Chin up.
