Romney Speech a Record Dud

Gallup has been polling on convention acceptance speeches since 1996, and Mitt Romney's has received the lowest ratings yet. Only 38% of those polled described his speech as excellent or good, compared to 47% who said the same about John McCain in 2008. (McCain was the next lowest-rated speaker, CBS notes.) Some 10% described Romney's speech as terrible, twice as many who said the same about McCain's effort.

The net impact of the Republican National Convention—the percentage of those saying they'd be more likely to vote for the nominee minus the percentage saying less likely—was just 2 points. That's the lowest on record, going back to 1984, although Gallup notes that convention impact is a poor predictor of election results. Only 51% of those polled said they watched "a great deal" or "some" of the convention on TV, the lowest percentage since the 1996 convention when Bob Dole accepted the Republican nomination. (More Mitt Romney stories.)