Wednesday, September 1 2004
INSIDE THE BUBBLE - NIGHT TWO: This morning let's start with the age old question: which do you want first, the good news or the bad? Okay, let's start with the bad.

The Bush twins were a disaster. I just don't know how to put it any other way. After the first couple of jokes I winced. After a couple of more I was begging them to stop. They didn't.

The litany of jokes they told were, in my opinion, both juvenile and inappropriate. Even worse, the twins reflected badly on the President, reinforcing the worst possible stereotype of the ditsy, slacker daughters of a C-student fratboy from Yale. My jaw literally hit the floor when Jenna bush said:

"Since we've graduated from college, we're looking around for something to do for the next few years. Kind of like Dad."

I'm sorry, but whoever wrote that line should be dragged to the guillotine at noon today.

Dont' get me wrong, generally speaking I like the Bush girls. They did have an appropriate role to play last night - it just wasn't doing a comedy routine. Maybe it played differently on TV and maybe it was received positively by young voters who were watching (a demographic of which I'm certainly not part) but I tend to think the person who green-lighted the Bush twins show last night should plead temporary insanity - and then plead to keep his or her job.

Laura was better. But she still didn't make a connection with the crowd like some might have expected. In general, people like Laura Bush. In particular, Republican delegates LOVE Laura Bush. But her speech was rather pedestrian and the delegates in the hall absorbed it as such, responding to the first lady with polite and respectful - though not wildly passionate - applause.

Arnold was in a different league. I watched the speech from the floor and I must say I was a bit surprised it didn't generate the type of electricity I expected among the crowd. That said, Arnold is one of the more charismatic, camera-ready politicians in modern history. He took full advantage of his most favorable assets, namely his immigrant story and his abounding optimism, to drive the crowd (and theoretically moderate swing voters around the country) into the camp of George W. Bush. On balance, I think Arnold made some headway.

We're now two days into a four-day convention. So far, I'd say that day one was an unqualified success but day two was a bit of a let down. At least it seemed that way from inside the bubble. - T. Bevan 4:55 am Link | Email | Send to a Friend