Wolcott: People are Beginning to Pay Attention

Dear God, I hope James Wolcott is right here but I've wondered too many times (erroneously, I might add) if the winds were finally beginning to shift so that everyone should take in the stink from this crowd.

Says Wolcott:

Reuters is reporting that nearly 44 million Americans watched last night's debate between Cheney and Edwards. That's--huge. How huge? The debate between Cheney and No-Joementum Lieberman in 2000 drew 29 million viewers, which was an advance over the poor souls who watched Gore vs. Kemp in 1996. A 15 million jump in viewership!

Why do I mention this? Because such intense interest probably spells bad news for the Republicans. With his approval rating dragging below 50 percent, Bush's reelection in a country with such an evenly divided electorate depends in part on poor turnout, Democratic demoralization, and preventing blacks from reaching the polling places. The purpose of the "shock and awe" ad blitz against Kerry earlier in the year was reduce him to a cripple dragging a useless leg to the finish line as Democrats stayed home in droves. That bombing campaign largely failed. The huge audience for the debates so far shows that the American people are "up" for this election, which can't be what Karl Rove wanted.

Couple with that the fact that the day-after analysis of the Cheney-Edwards debate has turned scathingly against the v-p--