Kerry picked his running mate early. The selection of Sen. John Edwards gave Kerry a small but still significant bump in the polls. Before the Edwards pick, Kerry trailed President Bush in 6 of the last 7 polls. Since then, he's led in 16 of 20. As a result, part of the traditional convention bounce is already accounted for in the latest polls.A memo from Bush pollster Matthew Dowd several weeks ago set expectations for a big bounce. Unless Democrats do something dramatic in the next few days, they better start altering expectations.
The nomination process was much faster this time. Kerry clinched the nomination early and the two campaigns engaged each other soon after with unprecedented advertising buys. At convention time, there simply aren't as many undecided voters as in previous years.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.
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