Pre-Weekend Thoughts
I had a busy week. On Wednesday I went to the Evergreen State Fair, manning the booth for the Snohomish County GOP. A lot of foot traffic went by -- especially when the rains came down hard -- and there was a lot of positive response.
One of the main goals was to get people registered to vote. Almost everyone I talked to was registered, except a 20-year-old kid who was registering for the first time, and a Canadian woman who liked the Bush buttons (she didn't seem to have much opinion either way about Bush, but wanted one because she knew it would tweak many of her fellow Canucks back home).
Some people were undecided, and wanted to pick up some information, especially about local races. I noted that the big local candidates for the GOP are Dino Rossi for governor and George Nethercutt for Senate (I am voting for Reed Davis in the primary, but I have no illusions about who's going to win it). A woman asked if Rossi was pro-small business. Oh yeah. So many people are aching for some sanity in the state's policies toward business and taxation, and Rossi is the candidate for that. And being a social moderate, I think he has a great chance to win.
There were very few negative responses. One older man, a Democrat, complained that Bush is dividing the country. He can't talk to his Republican friends anymore, and won't let another Republican on his boat. I wanted to ask him if Bush sent him a personal letter telling him to not let Republicans on his boat, else how is that his fault? But I smiled, said yes, the country is divided, that people on both sides are angry, and left it at that.
On Thursday I had a Party for the President at my house. I signed up at Bush's web site, and invited some friends, and other people could go to the web site and ask to be invited, which some did. There weren't a lot of people, but it was worthwhile for those that did. A family in town showed up and a friend from further south came. Some more people wanted to come, but couldn't, including a couple across the street who thought they were the only Republicans in the neighborhood until they saw our yard signs. This is what I'm talking about.
The speeches at the convention were very good. I think Bush is gonna get a big "bounce" out of this, especially considering the job news today: 144,000 new jobs in August, a drop of 0.1% in the unemployment rate (to 5.4%). This is not great job news, but it is not bad news, which for Bush right now, is good news. It makes it look like the much lower numbers of June and July were not a trend, and that the economy is still moving forward.
But the speeches ... man. McCain, Giuliani, and Arnold all hit home runs. Cheney was solid. Bush was very good. And Zell Miller ... look, if you're on the left, you think he sucked because he was attacking you. But most of the rest of the country, who is not already on your side or against Bush, loved it.
The left is trying to make Miller look like Dean, and actually complaining that the media is not portraying him the same way. But the difference is that almost everyone, right or left, who saw Dean on TV thought he looked crazy. Miller's speech was not like that at all. He was powerful, summoning a convincing righteous anger with a purpose. You may think he was crazy, but most people don't see it that way, so complaining that the media doesn't portray him as crazy is just dumb. Don't be dumb.
Don't forget: you can get all the major DNC speeches and most of the RNC speeches (more to come today, I'm sure, as they finish preparing them) on iTunes Music Store, for free.
One of the main goals was to get people registered to vote. Almost everyone I talked to was registered, except a 20-year-old kid who was registering for the first time, and a Canadian woman who liked the Bush buttons (she didn't seem to have much opinion either way about Bush, but wanted one because she knew it would tweak many of her fellow Canucks back home).
Some people were undecided, and wanted to pick up some information, especially about local races. I noted that the big local candidates for the GOP are Dino Rossi for governor and George Nethercutt for Senate (I am voting for Reed Davis in the primary, but I have no illusions about who's going to win it). A woman asked if Rossi was pro-small business. Oh yeah. So many people are aching for some sanity in the state's policies toward business and taxation, and Rossi is the candidate for that. And being a social moderate, I think he has a great chance to win.
There were very few negative responses. One older man, a Democrat, complained that Bush is dividing the country. He can't talk to his Republican friends anymore, and won't let another Republican on his boat. I wanted to ask him if Bush sent him a personal letter telling him to not let Republicans on his boat, else how is that his fault? But I smiled, said yes, the country is divided, that people on both sides are angry, and left it at that.
On Thursday I had a Party for the President at my house. I signed up at Bush's web site, and invited some friends, and other people could go to the web site and ask to be invited, which some did. There weren't a lot of people, but it was worthwhile for those that did. A family in town showed up and a friend from further south came. Some more people wanted to come, but couldn't, including a couple across the street who thought they were the only Republicans in the neighborhood until they saw our yard signs. This is what I'm talking about.
The speeches at the convention were very good. I think Bush is gonna get a big "bounce" out of this, especially considering the job news today: 144,000 new jobs in August, a drop of 0.1% in the unemployment rate (to 5.4%). This is not great job news, but it is not bad news, which for Bush right now, is good news. It makes it look like the much lower numbers of June and July were not a trend, and that the economy is still moving forward.
But the speeches ... man. McCain, Giuliani, and Arnold all hit home runs. Cheney was solid. Bush was very good. And Zell Miller ... look, if you're on the left, you think he sucked because he was attacking you. But most of the rest of the country, who is not already on your side or against Bush, loved it.
The left is trying to make Miller look like Dean, and actually complaining that the media is not portraying him the same way. But the difference is that almost everyone, right or left, who saw Dean on TV thought he looked crazy. Miller's speech was not like that at all. He was powerful, summoning a convincing righteous anger with a purpose. You may think he was crazy, but most people don't see it that way, so complaining that the media doesn't portray him as crazy is just dumb. Don't be dumb.
Don't forget: you can get all the major DNC speeches and most of the RNC speeches (more to come today, I'm sure, as they finish preparing them) on iTunes Music Store, for free.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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