Word: veep
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Welcome to the bounce. A TIME/CNN poll taken in the wake of George W. Bush's announcement of Dick Cheney as his presumptive veep has Bush leading Al Gore 52 percent to 36 percent, up from 48-42 in a similar poll taken in mid-June...
...that these polls matter much. Dukakis and Bush Sr. both had bigger summer leads than this melt away in the falls of 1988 and 1992, respectively. In 1988, the thrill of the Massachusetts governor - and the pall on the veep - both wore off when folks started reading up and decided that more of the same was OK by them. In 1992, they wanted something different...
...choice? With his pick of Ford-Reagan-Bush Republican Cheney, and his interview in USA Today on Friday ("People are going to hear at the convention about how proud I am to be George Bush's son"), Bush seems increasingly willing to bank on just that. By picking a veep with so many Republican echoes - and so much more experience than George W. himself - Bush has certainly energized his base. Some 78 percent of registered Republicans said they were satisfied with Bush-Cheney, compared to the Dole ticket's 48 percent four years...
...also may have fumbled his chance to offer undecideds what they just might crave. Not Reagan/Bush, not Clinton/Gore, but again, something different. In their sniping at Cheney, the Gore camp is trumpeting the GOP ticket's apparent tent shrinkage - and then signaling that the veep may go left with his own running mate. Base against base. Labor against management. Poor against rich...
...medical information into account, they must have concluded (incorrectly or not) that Cheney's past heart problems will not be an issue in this election. And they may well be right: It remains unclear whether the Gore ticket will launch an attack on Cheney's physical qualifications for the veep slot (a route that might be considered too tasteless even for American politics...