The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!

[Godhumor]

I am amazed at some of the negativity being expressed in this forum. This is a convention--it is designed as a way for a party to strengthen its base and appeal to undecideds. On average, if I remember correctly, the party that goes first tends to get a 5% bounce while the second party tends to get a 4% return. Now, it looks as if Tuesday did not help the republicans, but to expect McCain to come out of the convention in a worse position than when he went in is simply naive (If, by some stroke of luck, he does end up with a negative bounce after the convention I will dance a jig.).

The repubs have decided to appeal to voters by going negative in a way that is ugly, shameful, and incredibly partisan in nature. Time will tell how well that will play with the voting public, though first indications seem to show it could massively backfire (At the very least, it should galvanize the Democratic base to ensure we get out the vote). If you cannot stand the insanity that is the republican convention and don't understand how the media can cheer speakers spouting nasty rhetoric, I suggest you turn off the news until next week--maybe watch the football game tonight instead.

Please relax and let this play out. Even the Buchanan debacle from '92 took some time to have a negative effect.

[Democrats_win]

1. True. Yet our hysteria includes the memories of the past 8 years.

Everyone, including me, is understandably very angry that the GOP is trying to lie it's way into continuing a job they should be pushed out of. They deserve to be fired.

But you are 100% right. We should be confident that this time Americans will see this gimmick for yet another shameful tactic. America will hopefully see that McCain is further shaming himself by being a part of it. Saying McCain is an honorable man flies in the face of the facts we are witnessing.

[Godhumor]

2. I understand that and live it--I went to bed last night sick to my stomach

But to expect a country as divided as ours to flat-out reject one of the two major parties is to expect a miracle. Each election we fight for the rapidly decreasing number of people willing to vote for either party. Most voters these days identify with one party or the other and tend to stay loyal to that party regardless. The ultimate question is not how well this convention does with the base or the media but how it ultimately plays with the tiny percentage of undecideds.