Democrats hope to beat GOP convention bounce
larly its first couple of days, got widely panned. Big-name speakers were absent, divisions within the party were on full display, and ratings were tepid. In the end, however, the poll indicates that little of that mattered to voters — most of whom watch only snippets of either convention.
What may have mattered more was Trump’s own speech, in which he laid out a powerful, if pessimistic, assessment of a country headed in the wrong direction and asserted, “I alone can fix it.”
That message appears to have connected with Trump’s main voters, consolidating his support among groups that have favored him for months.
Compared with his standing before the convention started, Trump has gained significant ground among voters older than 65 and those without a college education — two groups that have been at the core of his support and among whom he holds double-digit leads.
By contrast, even with the post-convention bounce, Trump has not gained ground this week among college-educated voters. Nor has he improved his standing among voters in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
He improved his standing among white voters, but not with African-Americans or Latinos, among whom he continues to trail badly.
That leaves a significant opening for Clinton — if she can take advantage of it.
Clinton’s speech Thursday follows generally well-reviewed appearances by Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others.
Those speeches have generated strong attention from Americans: Ratings for the first two nights of the Democratic convention have substantially surpassed those for the equivalent nights of last week’s GOP gathering and are also running ahead of the levels from Democrats’ 2012 convention. 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 TuesdAy WednesdAy ThursdAy FridAy SAturdAy SundAy 8 MondAy TuesdAy 10 WednesdAy 11 ThursdAy 12 FridAy 13 SAturdAy 14 SundAy 15 MondAy 16 TuesdAy 17 WednesdAy 18 ThursdAy 19 FridAy 20 SAturdAy 21 SundAy 22 MondAy 23 TuesdAy 24 WednesdAy 25 ThursdAy 26 FridAy 27 SAturdAy 28 SundAy 29 MondAy 30 TuesdAy 31 WednesdAy