Another Frank Luntz focus group from Cincinnatti, one of the more conservative parts of Ohio. 20 middle of the road voters, about 18 of whom had voted for Bush in 2000. Tonight's speech alone moved 4 Bush voters to Kerry. Those folks weren't with Kerry last night. Tonight moved them. If that's any indication of the electorate (and these groups are not representative), then Bush is in more trouble than he knows.
The high points of the speech for those folks.:
- The energy independence line--Luntz said that the Saudi line moved the dial groups literally off the charts.
- "America will never go to war because we want to..."
- The Vietnam section
Lots of comments along the lines of "strength"; "walked the walk." One girl said that she thought Kerry took cheap shots. Luntz goes, "I guess you were the only one who didn't like it." Luntz looked shocked at the end: "A Democrat..scoring points on national security!"
Forget those damn fools they call pundits. The electorare may not be the brighest, but it's not that stupid. Home run baby.