"What did you think of the Republican Party's convention?"
(asked at Crossroads Shopping Center on 08-16-96; published in the JA on 08-18-96)

Jeff Cox, Oceanographer, Woodinville

"I didn't follow it much. But I watched replays of two speeches and I thought it seemed very orchestrated. My impression is that it was run to impress the public and not to have any open debate on issues within the party. I believe it will probably be very similar with the Democrat's convention... But I was impressed with Colin Powell's speech more than any other snippet I caught of the convention. He seemed to be well-spoken and he addressed issues of concern. He was much more on target. He was very, very good."

Maria Cook, Full-time mom, Bellevue

"Actually, I didn't watch any of it at all. I wanted to be able to get my information in print, and I didn't want to waste my time. I had better things to do with my family. And I knew what they were going to do -- nominate Dole. I think it's just way overdone. I might watch the Democrats for political preference reasons, but their convention will probably be overdone, too. And you won't get any news out of it. There's just way too much hype."

Gary Best, Controller, Redmond

"It was well-orchestrated and effective overall. It seemed to me that going into the convention, the Republicans had non momentum going for them at all. But coming out of the convention, I think they do have quite a bit of momentum. And I think Elizabeth Dole contributed a lot -- her going down into the audience helped soften the convention. It was very scripted, but whether her performance was part of the script wasn't real obvious. She was real good. She brought a human element to Bob Dole."

Jason DeLeon, Fish monger, Seattle

"I think it was obviously shadowed by corporate greed. I think it was just a show for the masses -- the elitists. I think it's false hopes from the Republican Party that they're closing the percentage points. It's a meaningless statistic. And when the Democratic convention comes around, I think Clinton will pull ahead again. Ted Koppel, who left the convention early, said it was a big infomercial and all a joke. I agree."

Jennifer Bayley, College student, Bellevue

"I actually watched because it's my first time voting -- my first time voting for president -- so I'm excited about that. Basically, I think they were really too broad and general in a lot of things they were saying. And they didn't show much interest in the youth vote, unlike the Democrats, and as a new voter, that's obviously important to me. I think that for the most part, the Republicans haven't been trying to get much of the youth vote, and it's going to hurt them. Bill Clinton goes on MTV -- he courts the 18 to 25 vote. The Republicans haven't paid enough attention to issues important to younger people, to me -- the cost of tuition, women's reproductive rights, gay and lesbian marriages... ."

Donna Cole, Retired aerospace buyer, Redmond

"I'll have to underline this because I'm a Democrat -- I thought that on the whole, it came across as a negative in that they said a lot of negative things about Clinton, things which I didn't think were even necessary. To me, a man who aspires to be the President of the United States should have more diplomacy than to allow himself or others to be negative about the current president. Dole allowing that shows a darker side of his personality. But I don't care for attacks by either party. They should have the dignity to represent the country with some class. Everything works out for the best, generally, but I really like a person with humor, and Clinton does have humor."

Copyright © 1996 by the Bellevue, WA-based Journal American newspaper.

If you'd like to comment on this Q, you can e-mail JA Editorial Page Editor Craig Groshart by clicking here. Please be sure to include the following in your message: