Flying Pink Unicorns

Report on rallies the weekend before the election.


On the Saturday before the 2000 election, I was at work at the big law firm I worked for. I had a few hours of work, but nothing urgent, and was following the election. So I brought my work into a conference room which had a large projection screen tv, and watched a few Bush and Gore rallies.


The Bush rallies were pro-forma and even a bit on the subdued side. He read from his script without any deviation.


The Gore rallies were totally different. Gore was screaming, nearly at the top of his lungs. None of the wooden, passion-less Gore. The crowds were going absolutely wild.


There was an obvious contrast. I note that Gore was in Tennessee and Florida on the day I watched.


I've been watching McCain and Obama rallies the last couple of days.


The McCain rally I'm watching right this instant (2:45 p.m. Sunday) in Scranton Pennsylvania, is typical. I can't tell how big the crowd is, but it is loud. Raucous and boisterous. McCain, who looked a bit tired yesterday (can you blame him?) is as awake and alert right now as it is possible to be. It is, in short, an awfully successful rally.


McCain trips over more words than Bush, let alone Gore, double let alone Obama. The English language is not McCain's very very best friend.


The Obama rallies I have seen, on the other hand, have been hugely attended, but not really loud. In fact, like the rally I attended a few weeks back in Philadelphia, the applause was almost polite, as opposed to raucous. Obama was more lively then I had seen him on tv, but not nearly as energized as McCain is. Of course, that's Obama's personality, to be understated. McCain varies between calm-ish/sarcastic, to the new "fighter" personae, which is highly, highly energized.


I'm not saying that the personality of a rally is a predictor of the upcoming vote, but it could conceivably be. The rallies I have seen for McCain in Pennsylvania have been hugely energized. Worth a note.