William Saletan looks more closely at the post convention poll numbers for Kerry and sees better news (for Kerry) than everybody else. This was my own reaction to the breakdowns in the WP/ABC poll, which was the only one I got a chance to see in any detail. Kerry didn't gain much overall, but on some key issues and perceptions there were huge changes. Specifically, on questions about who Americans trust to deal with Iraq or the war on terror, Kerry got an 8-point bump at Bush's expense. For the economy, health care, education, and taxes he got smaller but still sizable bumps. And after the convention, on every single issue except his prosecution of the war on terror, Americans trusted him more than President Bush.
So, the view that the convention did nothing to alter people's opinions or perceptions about Kerry is obviously wrong. The opposite seems to be true: the convention seems to have brought people around on precisely the issues that were targeted. The question is, why didn't this translate into an overall bump?
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