Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Still Rising

Monday, August 7, 2000

This is the bye week for political junkies. The GOP convention is over and the Democrats don't start their convention until next week. Thank goodness.

Notwithstanding the best efforts of the Gore team, the Bush folks are getting straight A's for their convention. The ballistic trajectory of George W.'s polling numbers in the wake of the GOP convention continues on an upward course. In a Gallup poll of likely voters taken on Friday and Saturday for USA Today and CNN, Bush leads Gore by 17 points (54-37) including a 12 point lead among women.

For the AP report on the poll, go here: //www.mullings.com/dr_08-07-00

From USA Today's Richard Benedetto's web report on that poll: "Bush raised his stature among many likely voters who now see him as having the personality and leadership qualities of a president, 71%-51% over Gore."

Let's go over again, that notion that national political conventions don't mean anything.

Those numbers are likely to be at their peak - maybe for the entire campaign. The surprising thing for analysts is the size of the "convention bounce" that George W. got. Bush had been getting almost 90 percent of the Republican vote so it didn't appear there was much "bounce" left to get, yet the polls moved from about plus four to plus 17 over the course of the GOP convention.

Gore, for his part, is only getting about 70 percent of Democratic votes so, if his convention is to be deemed successful, that gap has to close back down to the low single-digits.

Ed Rendell, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, speaking of the political danger of Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman's potential for being Gore's running mate: "I don't think anyone can calculate the effect of having a Jew on the ticket."

Hello? Mr. Party-of-Inclusion? George W. was willing to put a Black man on the Republican ticket if Colin Powell had made himself available.

Here's something to look for at next week's convention: Four years ago, at the 1996 Republican Convention in San Diego, it seemed like every third person you ran into was testing the waters for a Presidential run in 2000.

You couldn't walk ten feet without running into someone who wanted to tell you - just, you know, in case Bob Dole didn't actually beat Bill Clinton - that he was available to be the nominee four years hence.

There was absolutely no one in Philadelphia who was running for President in 2004. Not a single person wanted to be blamed for diffusing, in the slightest way, the laser beam focus on George W.

Reporters might want to keep their eyes open for signs of toe-in-the-water-dippers in Los Angeles next week. That will be the surest sign yet - even more than Dick Gephardt not wanting to be on the Gore ticket - that Dems are starting to give up hope.

I successfully lost not one, but two cell phones during the 10 days I was in Philadelphia. The second one grew legs on Saturday night somewhere between CNN's New York bureau and Union Station in Your Nation's Capital.

Because someone such as myself needs to be in constant touch with every living person every possible second of every single day, I went yesterday, immediately after Meet the Press, to the AT&T store to buy yet another one. They didn't open until noon so I decided to call the Standards and Practices Division of Mullings to say I would hang out at the Barnes & Nobel. The pay phone - when was the last time you used a pay phone? - wanted thirty five cents and I only had two quarters. So I didn't call.

This is a true story: One of the best things about being a Big Time Political Operative was the ability to skulk around the First Union Center at will. One night, I poked my head into one of the many skyboxes and guess what I saw? Ben Stein, like a beached manatee, sound asleep on one of the couches.

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