Conventional Wisdom

Yay spectacle! I love a good political spectacle. It actually makes for an interesting comparison that the Democratic National Convention is falling immediately after the Olympics, the spectacle to end all spectacles. Personally, I could not have cared less about the Olympics; I see no reason to suddenly take interest in sports I've never given a second thought to, and while the athleticism is impressive, I generally fail to see the overall point (aside from the glorification of drunk drivers.) It's a lot of pomp and showboating with no real purpose.

That's why this is so fascinating for me; the convention is also a whole lot of pomp and showboating, but with a ridiculously high purpose. Underneath all the rhetoric and attacks lies the feeling that the party must unite and rally to elect their candidates, while still trying to sway the undecided who might be watching. This is a delicate balancing act, but I'm mostly quite impressed by the Democrats so far. (Except Mark Warner. He sucked.)



Michelle Obama had a tough task to accomplish on Monday, primarily due to the unfair portrayal of her as an angry black woman by the media. She had to show her softer side while still telling America why they should elect her husband president. Her mission only became tougher when she had to follow Ted Kennedy's amazing surprise appearance. But as far as I'm concerned, she nailed it. (Full disclosure: I FUCKING LOVE THIS WOMAN. I wish she were running.) She did never came off as condescending or elitist, and addressed the ridiculous questions of her patriotism without overdoing the flag-waving. Although some have been complaining that she didn't attack enough, I think it would have been bizarre to hear her attacking John McCain when she was essentially up there as a character witness. Overall, fantastic. (Except the end with the kids. That was awkward.)




While Michelle Obama did a fantastic job, Hillary rocked this shit. She did exactly what she needed to do. Before she spoke, I had a conversation with my mother where I said, "Hillary just needs to go out there and say, 'You say you're my supporter but you're going to vote for McCain? WTF? You want me to have to go work with a Republican president?'" She did exactly this (except much more eloquently - I teared up a bit, I'll confess), and I think we'll hear a lot of the PUMA nonsense go away. As someone who supported Hillary in the primaries, it was kind of hard to watch her up there last night and not think that she would have made an excellent candidate (and maybe she still will in 2016), but I think any Hillary fan who doesn't fall in line after that speech is crazy or wasn't really a Democrat to begin with.

I'm way excited for the rest of the speakers; Joe Biden and Pres. Clinton (who spoke at my commencement!) tonight, and Barack tomorrow. They all have big shoes to fill after Hillary tore the house down the way she did, but I think they'll manage. All in all, I'm loving this convention, and it's having the proper effect on me, at the very least. I'm almost ready to cough up $10-15 for this campaign! Hell, maybe even $20.