If Bill Clinton truly did fall asleep during his wife’s speech at the Democratic convention on Thursday night, you can hardly blame him. And that’s not (only) because of the soporific content of the remarks. Rather, Clinton’s speech went late into the night, not wrapping up until around midnight, when large numbers of Americans are already in bed.
It was a pattern repeated each night of the convention, with the proceedings not wrapping up until nearly midnight. That’s downright inconsiderate in a country where half the population is awake by 6:30 am. And it’s also electorally foolish. Survey results from Jawbone, the sleep-tracking app, show that many swing-state voters were likely long asleep (or wishing they were) when Clinton and her label-mates Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Bernie Sanders wrapped up their remarks. People in Coschocton County, Ohio, for example, hit the hay by 11:11 pm. In Bradford County, Pennsylvania, people go to bed at 10:55 pm. And in Glades County, Florida, residents turn in at 11:10 pm.
Then again, given the critical reception to Clinton’s remarks, perhaps it’s best for her campaign that many Americans snoozed through it.
