Bill Clinton Vs. The NFL

The Democrats have done a little shuffling of their convention speakers. Normally, the vice-presidential candidate will speak on the next-to-last night of the convention, while the presidential candidate speaks on the last night. This traditional arrangement gives the vice-presidential candidate one of his few moments in the sun (the only other one being the vice-presidential debate). But this year, both the vice-president and the president will address the Democrats on the last night of their convention.

Now this was not done to slight Mr. Biden in any way. In fact, he wholeheartedly agreed with the decision. Why? because the next-to-last night of the convention will have to compete with the opening of the NFL season -- and even worse, the featured game has the Dallas Cowboys facing the New York Giants (two very popular teams with huge fan bases). Mr. Biden, not known as a great orator to begin with, would have basically been speaking to no one outside the convention hall.

So what were the Democrats to do on that next-to-last day of the convention? They couldn't just call the whole thing off because a football game was being played. They needed a "heavy-hitter" so to speak -- someone who was well liked enough to get at least some viewers to tune in the convention. And the person they got to deliver the big speech for that night was Bill Clinton.

Now this is not a bad choice. A recent Gallup Poll shows that more than two-thirds of the population has a very favorable view of Mr. Clinton (about 66%). His popularity has been growing recently, and that 66% ties his highest rating ever received (which was shortly after he took office in 1993). And Clinton is a very good speaker. This was probably the best the Democrats could have done.

Will it work? Probably not. Political conventions are not huge ratings winners in the best of conditions, and I doubt the convention viewership will be anywhere close to that of the NFL football game. I'm a political junkie who loves to watch the conventions (especially the Democrats), but I have to admit that my TV will be tuned to the NFL game like most of the rest of the American viewing public. I like Bill Clinton (and on a different night I would love to hear him speak), but it's the Cowboys versus the Giants!