Reading notes

William Saletan assesses there’s more post-Convention bounce happenin’ for Kerry than meets the eye. Some example comparisons:

If you’ve read or watched news reports about polls taken since the Democratic convention, you’ve probably heard that John Kerry didn’t get much of a “bounce.” These reports miss the important data. Let’s look at the numbers. …

Before the convention, the percentage of voters who were uneasy about Kerry’s ability to handle an international crisis was 19 points higher than the percentage who were confident in his ability to handle such a crisis. After the convention, that margin of unease has shrunk to 11 points. Bush’s negative margin on the same question is 12 points. …

Before the convention, voters agreed by a 12-point margin that Kerry had “the personality and leadership qualities a president should have.” After the convention, the margin is 20 — eight points higher than the margin for Bush on the same question. …

Before the convention, more voters trusted Bush than Kerry “to protect U.S. citizens from future acts of terrorism.” Now more voters trust Kerry than trust Bush. …

In ABC’s pre-convention survey, only 72 percent of Kerry’s voters supported him strongly. In the post-convention survey, that number has risen to 85—virtually equal to Bush’s 86.

Further interesting numbers herein. Thanks, William.

(BTW, I think William’s title term “warm bread” is meant to imply “not yet toast, but getting there.”)

[via Ottoe]