However, neither denial was enough to change the minds of many who were previously convinced.
The very fact that Mr. Bush had to come here this weekend, to an island free of protesters for a meeting with the previously convinced, is evidence that he has also failed, as some of his own aides acknowledge.
The party can also argue that circumstances have changed because it has not got a group of MPs in parliament from which to choose a new leader, which it was previously convinced it would have after 7 May.
The gun lobby previously convinced an obeisant Congress that "long guns" like military rifles and shotguns were not favored by criminals and deserved a pass at dealers supposedly catering to sportsmen.
Having previously convinced a Camden gallery to "curate" a selection of "curiosities" salvaged from the mansion he used to rent from Lord Cardigan, Doherty is evidently trying to find other means to capitalise on his assets.
Jeffrey Goldberg has put out a piece in The Atlantic in response to Bergman, suggesting that Bergman's analysis might be premature, and pointing out that the same people that Bergman talked to had previously convinced Goldberg that the attack would come last summer.
