Doom. Me. Despair. Me. Terror. Me. Me. Me. And only me.
That’s a pretty fair summary of Donald Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention. It was one of the most depressing, least hopeful, most self-aggrandizing and just plain poor speeches ever delivered by a presidential candidate. And Gallup agrees.
… Trump's speech got the least positive reviews of any speech we have tested after the fact: 35% of Americans interviewed last weekend said it was excellent or good. Of the nine previous speeches we have rated, the top one was Barack Obama's in August 2008, which 58% of Americans rated as excellent or good.
Even that 38% number was padded out by only the most fervent Trump followers. Of those who tuned in only on the final evening to see what Trump had to offer only 19% rated the speech excellent or good.
And while Gallup did report a change in opinion for those who watched the convention, it wasn’t what you would call a bounce.
The self-reported net impact of the GOP convention was also negative. Overall, 51% of Americans say the convention made them less likely to vote for Trump, while 36% said it made them more likely to vote for him. This is the highest "less likely to vote" percentage for a candidate in the 15 times Gallup has asked this question after a convention.
More of a convention flop.
