So far Gore’s post-convention bounce in the polls seems to be holding. Striking thing is that it seems to have ben primarily among women. Polls show an enormous gender gap - 38% in one poll. And this seems to have come about recently. Previously, Bush had a smaller gender gap problem than most recent Republican presidential candidates have had.
What’s intriguing is the speculation I heard recently (on some radio talk show) that this is due, at least in part, to the celebrated Gore convention kiss. (The talk show host asked the female traffic reporter if this had swayed her, and she replied that it did make her favorably inclined towards Gore, but not enough to actually make her vote for him). In this article about the matter, the same suggestion is brought up, and confirmed by one woman interviewed.
So what do you think? Is this actually possible? And if so, how do you feel about the possiblitiy of elections being decided by matters as patently rediculous as this? Imagine, all sorts of intelligent people on this forum and elsewhere are earnestly debating the issues, while a possibly greater impact comes about through some guy kissing his wife.
I think Gore’s bounce came from his detailed discussion of the issues in his convention speech (as opposed to Bush’s recitation of platitudes, which for Republicans and Democrats alike is the more standard Convention fare).
I think folks heard Gore’s stand on the actual issues, and decided that they agree with him. (Or at least many people did.)
It is hardly surprising that Democrats have an advantage among women, given the weight many women give to the abortion issue. Gore may be expected to appoint judges and Justices who will uphold the right to choose. Bush can be expected to appoint judges and Justices who undercut Roe v. Wade at every opportunity.
You’ve got to be kidding, spoke-. You think it was Gore’s stand on the issues, and especially abortion, that gave him the bounce? You think that people didn’t know about Gore’s stand on abortion before the convention? And that, seeing as they’ve been living under a rock for the past eight years, they suddenly and inexplicably decided to watch the convention?
My theory: This Kiss had a lot to do with it. Just another instance to prove that lots and lots of people in this fine country of ours are vapid, shallow fools.
Ok, I am male. That kiss looked to me as fake, as stilted, as it can possibly be. Not to mention done in front of millions of viewers. Do women really like this kind of stuff? I found it creepy and inappropriate. I know I would not do that to anyone I respected.
I second the previous post by Necros. Neither of your two point address why a huge gender gap should have developed at the same time as the convention.
I read the article to which IzzyR had a link. I think it’s a combination of reasons (and not just the kiss at the convention.) People interviewed for the article said the following:
[ul]
[li]I didn’t know much about him before. Now he looks like his own man.[/li][li]He’s the best guy to watch over the economy.[/li][li]Gore seems more believable, and I’ve noticed Bush running negative ads.[/li][li]Bush looks like he’s grabbing at straws and going negative, not talking about issues.[/li][/ul]
Recently, I have read several interviews with Tipper (sorry, I can’t remember where) where she strongly hints that ol’ Al is a real hot tamale in bed. :eek:
I think that a lot of people like Gore’s policies, but they do not like him–too stiff, too robotic, too human. Maybe the Gore campaign is trying to play up Al’s, um, sexuality in an attempt to make him seem more human and accessible. I admit that I thought of him in a new way after reading Tipper’s comments. Maybe the kiss helped some people break through their feelings of discomfort with Gore’s apparent inhumanness and declare their support for his policies.
spoke promising everyone in the world (except those bastards: the rich and the corporation) is not talking about the “issues”. He neve discussed how he would pay for the 28 or so items he promised. He just stood up there and promised, promised, promised. It is the old “chicken in every pot” gag.
Unfortunately, there are still enough rubes in the US to buy it.
Yeah, that’s what they said, and may be what they think, but why would they start thinking that to this degree at this point? And why the sudden development of the huge gender split? I think people who are favorably disposed towards a person are apt to judge that person favorably on all aspects.
Green Bean,
I would be surprised if sexuality had anything to do with it. More likely that women are apt to look favorably on a man who loves his wife.
After all this, I am not actually 100% convinced that this is indeed a major factor. But it looks like there might be reason to think so.
And Bush has been clearer in telling is exactly how we can afford this tax cut of massive proportions, despite the crumbling edifice of some of our more important social institutions? Forgive my melodrama, but the other side is even less believable.
I think it’s showing a condescending attitude towards women voters to say “it’s because Gore kissed his wife.” Why couldn’t it be that with the publicity surrounding the democratic convention, and the added visibility, many women realized that the issues espoused by the democratic party are more relevant to what they want in a candidate?
I think that as usual people’s perceptions will be coloured with their political beliefs. As Mr. Zambezi showed, Rush Limbaugh will be more than happy to give airtime to women saying “it’s the kiss that convinced me”, because that gives Rush the chance to show that all democrats are idiots. Similaryly, I hear many democrats say “women liked Bush because he was handsome and not too bright, but now that he’s showing a mean strike in his attack ads, they’re going to Gore”. How much truth is in that statement?
My, what a typically cynical bunch of Republicans you fellows are!
A couple of quotes from the article seem to bear out my points:
“Four months ago, there wasn’t much out there on Gore. I didn’t know much about him.”
“I’m coming around to thinking that maybe he’s the best guy to watch over” the economy, said Charlene Learn, 29, of Medina.
Sounds to me like a couple of women who didn’t know much about Gore before, who listened to his speech, and who then decided that he’s the best man for the job. No doubt, the kiss didn’t hurt, and I know you fellows want to believe that it’s the only reason for the shift, but the quotes show that these women are looking at the issues and not just the image. (Always bad news for Republicans…)
Also from the article there’s this:
“Democrats are aided by lopsided support from black women and a traditional edge among single, white women.”
Now why do you suppose single women prefer Democrats? The abortion issue, just like I said.
Sorry to hear y’all think so little of women voters.
Maeglin. I never said Bush was more detailed. I just said that Gore wasn’t detailed.
But they both agree that there is a surplus. In essence, we are paying more in taxes than the government is using. Bush say “hey, it’s your money, let’s give it back.” GOre says, “we will give some back to the poor, but we are going to spend, spend, spend the extra money.”
A tax cut doesn’t “cost” anything. If you are overcharged at the supermarket, it doesn’t cost them anything to give you back the correct change. Sure, they could use your money to buy nicer displays or to hire a disabled worker. But we would call that theft. I don’t see how it is OK for the government to overcharge and then decid ethat the appropriate action is to spend more rahter than give the money back.
If taxes aren’t being cut in this economy, they never, ever will be.
What Gore has said is that we need to use the surplus to continue to pay down the national debt (rather than financing the tax cuts for the wealthy that Bush is seeking). Paying down the debt is the prudent course, just like paying off your credit cards is the prudent thing to do with extra household income. Alan Greenspan has continually encouraged payment of the debt over tax cuts.
Republicans and Democrats already fought this battle before, when the Republicans shut down the government to try to force Clinton to accept their tax cuts. Clinton stood by his guns, we continued to pay down the debt, and the result was low inflation and low interest rates. Low interest rates led to increased investment, which in turn contributed to recod low unemployment levels.
Sorry fellows, but the Democratic approach to the economy has worked and worked well. The tax cuts for the wealthy sought by Bush will have the effect of foisting current debt on future generations. It’s like running up a credit card bill to finance an extravagant lifestyle. We should have learned our lesson under Reagan: Anyone can live well in the short term on borrowed money. The better long-term course is to rein in debt. Gore’s plan does a better (though not perfect) job in that department.
Because it’s odd that it should have had a disproportionate impact on women.
But that would still seem to indicate that there are some such people.
spoke-
Oh yeah? Well wait till next week…the new Bush campaign ad, in which he will renew his wedding vows with his wife. Highlight - he will kneel down and present her with a wopping diamond ring. This will boost his image among women by 30%. And it will be all issue-driven. (“With the Bush tax cut plan, your husband will be able to afford a diamond ring like this for you”…)
There is no correlation whatsoever between the national debt and inflation rates. An economist the other day went over this on NPR. IF you chart inflation, interest rates and the national debt, the lines show no correlation.
And exactly how will gore pay down the debt along with his tax cuts, free prescription meds, free pre-scool, free health insurance, etc.? And how can people invest more money if they are taxed at a higher rate? it flies in the face of reason.
I do not particularly like the tone taken by the liberals in regards to the “rich” viz, me. According to Gore, a family that makes over $90k is “rich”. Trust me, I do not make enough money to pay $37k per year and smile about it.
being successful is not a crime worthy of increased punishment.
I don’t see this as any more odd than your suggestion that all these women changed their mind because Al Gore kissed his wife on television.
As far as the call-ins to Rush Limbaugh - Rush Limbaugh has a well-known reputation for obfuscation and distorting the facts. I would trust “information” gathered from his show just about as far as I could throw him (Rush).
Before the Bush campaign was even the Bush campaign the money interests of the right have been painting Gore with the “robot” brush. The basic point was the man was not “like us folks” but was an emotionless technocrat, and not like our boy (right wing sock puppet name to be added later). That tired line was as much a lie as any other crap put out by the political machines of either side. Truth is a rare commodity in politics.
The so-called liberal press sucked up the whole matter with glee, since it is baseless enough to require absolutely no effort or evidence to repeat. Six years or so of “What a sexless zombie old Gore is!” and the Republicans fell into one of their favorite self-delusions. They started to believe their own press. The Democrats let them have fun. Then you let the press see Al kiss his wife. Politicians have been kissing people for centuries. Al kisses Tipper, and the press goes nuts. If the Republicans had not done the six years preparations in advance it would have been a non-event. Turns out Al loves Tipper, Tipper loves Al. This too is a non-story without the dedicated gutter tactics of the Right.
So the American people say, “See, he is a human being.” So the Republicans, as always unable to bite the bullet and shut up when the start to loose one go nuts again, and claim that somehow the six year mud sling is the truth, and a simple kiss is the “big lie.” The American people, female model, says, “Huh?”
The only thing in the world dumber than a Democrat, is a Republican. The Rushies of the world have elected another Democrat to the presidency. Congratulations.
