Here's some info on previous convention bounces....
Convention Bounces |
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Net Change | |||
2000 Rep. Bounce | Bush +6 | Gore -5 | Bush +11 |
2000 Dem. Bounce | Gore +10 | Bush -9 | Gore +19 |
1996 Rep. Bounce | Dole +8 | Clinton -7 | Dole +15 |
1996 Dem. Bounce | Clinton +4 | Dole -1 | Clinton +5 |
1992 Dem. Bounce | Clinton +14 | Bush -16 | Clinton +30 |
1992 Rep. Bounce | Bush +6 | Clinton -10 | Bush +16 |
1988 Dem. Bounce | Dukakis +7 | Bush -4 | Dukakis +11 |
1988 Rep. Bounce | Bush +6 | Dukakis -5 | Bush +11 |
1984 Dem. Bounce | Mondale +9 | Reagan -7 | Mondale +16 |
1984 Rep. Bounce | Reagan +4 | Mondale -4 | Reagan +8 |
1980 Rep. Bounce | Reagan +8 | Carter -5 | Reagan +13 |
1980 Dem. Bounce | Carter +10 | Reagan -7 | Carter +17 |
1976 Dem. Bounce | Carter +9 | Ford -7 | Carter +16 |
1976 Rep. Bounce | Ford +4 | Carter -3 | Ford +7 |
1972 Dem. Bounce | McGovern 0 | Nixon +3 | McGovern -3 |
1972 Rep. Bounce | Nixon +7 | McGovern -1 | Nixon +8 |
1968 Rep. Bounce | Nixon +5 | Humphrey -9 | Nixon +14 |
1968 Dem. Bounce | Humphrey +2 | Nixon -2 | Humphrey +4 |
For consistency, these results are all among registered voters. 1992-2000 polls are from ABC News; 1968-88 polls are by Gallup. Earlier polls weren't done frequently enough to track the convention bounce reliably.
"based upon the data that says there aren't many undecides and that maybe 90% or so are strongly committed to their candidate now"
That is the media spin in a nutshell. However, undecideds are always a relatively small group. In the past, Convention bounces have been strongly based on decided voters becoming undecided or actually switching sides. This year is not as different as the media wants you to think. They are covering up Kerry's disasterous "no opinions allowed" convention flop. Bush's bounce depends on how well he's doing before the convention. If he's ahead, it will probably be a relatively small bounce, if he's behind it will probably be bigger. Either way though, he will get a bounce, unlike Kerry. This convention was 4-days of reconfirming to the american people that Kerry has no core beleifs.