Category: Politics

Students and scholars of public speaking have been abuzz on the airwaves this morning about Senator Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention last night. In my opinion, it was one of her best public speaking appearances, and the energy, strong message, and sharp delivery of her carefully chosen words was fantastic to watch.

There were strong calls for unity:

Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines.

Poignant hits at the opposition:

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s okay when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.

Uplifting sentiments:

We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges. Leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

And moments of humor:

To my supporters, my champions — my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits – from the bottom of my heart: Thank you.

I highly recommend watching it.

A headline caught my eye on the CNN ticker this morning: “Poll: More disapprove of Bush than any other president”. While this doesn’t surprise me, I did find the details interesting:

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday indicates that 71 percent of the American public disapprove of how Bush is handling his job as president.

“No president has ever had a higher disapproval rating in any CNN or Gallup Poll; in fact, this is the first time that any president’s disapproval rating has cracked the 70 percent mark,” said Keating Holland, CNN’s polling director.

“Bush’s approval rating, which stands at 28 percent in our new poll, remains better than the all-time lows set by Harry Truman and Richard Nixon [22 percent and 24 percent, respectively], but even those two presidents never got a disapproval rating in the 70s,” Holland said. “The previous all-time record in CNN or Gallup polling was set by Truman, 67 percent disapproval in January 1952.”

While Gallup polling goes back to the 1930s, it wasn’t until the Truman years that they began surveying monthly approval ratings.

CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider adds, “He is more unpopular than Richard Nixon was just before he resigned from the presidency in August 1974.”

President Nixon’s disapproval rating in August 1974 stood at 66 percent.

Absolutely amazing.