Ms. Riefenstahl never denied her early conviction that Hitler could "save" Germany.
These early voters would be self-selecting, trading the opportunity to watch the campaign unfold for the ability to demonstrate early conviction.
The odd thing about Batmanghelidjh's early conviction that she wanted to work with needy kids was that during her own childhood she never, ever met any – because she, her brothers and lost sister led an exceptionally cloistered life.
But a clue must be fair, and I can't quite shake off my early conviction that it should have two clear parts - wordplay and definition, a bit like the parts of an equation separated by the equals sign.
According to Jodi Kantor, the author of "The Obamas," Michelle and Barack shared an early conviction that the gap between the rich and the poor had less to do with hard work and merit than with "opportunity, power, access and wealth".
Perhaps that's true, but my early conviction that everything would be all right, that it was "for the best" has been shaken, again and again, to the point where right now I just don't know if it will be all right, actually.
