Sometimes, you have to be willing to spend your popularity in order to pick the hard right over the easy wrong. The message was clear. But in this economically prosperous era, most pundits wonder whether such sweet-talk will be enough. The character factor is still the favourite topic among Republicans bent on showing that Gore is just another Clinton. A well choreographed speech punctuated by 60 rounds of applause tried to present the new Gore to the people, especially to those who were watching him on television.
American politicians are, more than ever, acting with the TV mirror-image in mind.
An estimated 26 million people watched Al Gore's acceptance speech last Thursday, approximately one million more than had viewed that of his Republican counterpart George W Bush two weeks earlier. Yet estimates by Nielsen Media Research reveal that the number of American households who followed the speech of Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman was 20.3 million. However, nearly 29 million viewers found the same night's Survivor episode more interesting. About 17.5 per cent of American homes tuned in to the Democratic National Convention on an average night, while 16 per cent watched the Republicans. But then, the Democrats gathered in Los Angeles had more important issues to confront.