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Now that the speeches and chanting are over at the conventions, what did the candidates and their running mates accomplish? Some Utah experts weighed in.
The good news is that a record number of Americans watched the history-making speeches of Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Sarah Palin. Sen.Obama wowed 80,000 in the stadium and attracted the year's largest television audience, with 38-million viewers. The experts agree it was great political theatre, but did his speech convince voters?
Political pollster Dan Jones said, "Many of the questions they have, however, were not answered, especially about the issues and how to pay for the things that he wants to do."
Kirk Jowers, with the Hinckley Institute of Politics, said, "The Democratic convention seemed unbeatable. You had the huge expectations for Obama with the Greek columns, and he actually lived up to the expectations."
Gov. Sarah Palin had almost equally impressive ratings, with 37 million viewers. Our experts say she stopped the Democratic momentum, at least temporarily, and added energy. "There is no question the public likes her. She has about a 50 percent approval rating but an 80 percent approval rating among Republicans," Jones said.
The polls show McCain and Obama are close, but both agree this election is likely Obama's to lose. "So, he can't screw up. That's basically his biggest thing to do. On a more substantive basis, he needs to prove he can sit across the table from Putin," Jowers said.
What do the candidates have to do now? Jowers said, "We don't know exactly what they're going to do on so many key issues, and we just keep hearing the negatives and the hits and the soundbites. So, I think everyone now is going to look for more depth, and I hope they give it to us."
Jones said, "I really see a very close election at this time, but now start the great debates."
In the next 60 days, the presidential candidates will debate three times, the vice-presidential candidates once.
E-mail: cmikita@ksl.com
