Thoughts on the Conventions

I promised some thoughts on the Conventions, but now that time has elapsed and the outcome is a bit clearer it doesn't seem as relevant. Nevertheless a few things that stick out in my mind a week and a half later:

1. The DNC had a lot of good speeches but lacked a major theme. The slogan supposedly changed each day, with daily themes so forgettable I cannot remember them now. The RNC was much more effective in this regard, staying with the "Country First" theme throughout, and driving it home at every opportunity.

2. The DNC had a lot of good speeches, and some not so good.
Michelle Obama was a hit and showed someone we should be proud to have as a First Lady.
Hillary's was a particularly thorough and rousing endorsement.
Bill Clinton gave a speech which reminded many of us why we elected him twice.
Comparatively minor functionaries like Sen. Casey and Gov. Schweitzer positively beamed.
While hyped speakers like Gov. Mark Warner fell somewhat flat.
Biden needs some serious work. His was, I think, the weakest speech of the fortnight.
Obama sizzled but did not soar, which was probably on purpose. I sat there expecting to cry as I did four years ago. Instead I was sober and resolved. Sober is no fun, but then one can get a lot more done when sober (or so I'm told, I'm a tea-totaller mostly).

3. Gustav was actually a blessing for the RNC. It forced them to pare down, refocus, and re-concentrate their efforts. The result was a more compact and focused convention. Worries that the hurricane would remind everyone of the Katrina blunder mostly were mostly unfounded. The storm was not as bad as Katrina, not as bad as predicted, and the government response was much better. Rather than footage of the Superdome fiasco, the country watched footage of busses lined up to take folks out of New Orleans, of National Guard on the streets, and of levies that held. And FEMA seemed to do a better job there than they seem to be doing now with Ike (mind you Ike turned out to be a much worse storm). The shift in focus also proved good for the Republicans. Rather than four rambling days of "He's not ready to lead" which would have seemed ironic coming out of Gov. Palin, they got three concentrated days of "Maverick Hero Reformers".

4. Obama got a few practical things out of his convention. He did get a modest bounce in the polls, but that was shortlived. Longer-term gains include the firm and final support of the Clintons and many of their allies. Despite Republican jabs about Mile High stadium, and rather petty ribbing about the kind of "temple" Bush and McCain have appeared in front of time and time again (Can you say "hypocrisy" children?), Obama also got the names of a couple of thousand supporters in Colorado. If Colorado turns out to be the state that puts Obama over, as it easily could be, that stadium decision may have turned out to have been the smartest move of the campaign.

5. McCain got much more out of his convention. He got a huge bounce which has not entirely subsided yet. He also got his base incredibly fired up on Palin. Time will tell if this remains. The bounce is beginning to settle. And it is not entirely clear the effect Palin will have on independents. For the moment it is a resounding success which may make the difference.

6. Going second is better. I don't know if Dean flipped Mehlman for it or how these things are decided, but the Dems have not had good luck going first (at least they didn't four years ago).

7. The media in the country is a shambles if not a sham. I found myself flipping back and forth between CSPAN, the cable networks (CNN, MSNBC, FOX), and in primetime the local broadcast networks. I utterly and completely preferred CSPAN, straight coverage with no commentary. The local networks showed almost nothing but the key speech of the night, bookended by local news and light commentary and brief clips of the day's speeches. The cable network reporting was a farce. The pundits and talking heads have been yaking away 24/7 for months, usually with nothing new to say. It's the same talking points over and over. So do they drop that and cover the convention? No, they talk on and on with the same exact stuff we've heard for weeks. The key point for me was Day 1 in Denver. Sen. Claire McCaskill gave what I thought was a rousing and effective speech, much of it attacking McCain. At that precise moment on CNN, Anderson Cooper and David Gergen and their compatriots were debating whether the Democrats had wasted their first day. Now I actually like Gergen, but at that moment he was arguing that the Democrats were completely blowing the opportunity by not criticising McCain. At that exact moment over his shoulder in the background, McCaskill was doing precisely that. Again and again throughout the fortnight, I found myself screaming "shut-up" at the TV and switching to CSPAN.

So that's it. It's going to be a barn-burner.