Hands up for all who’ll be watching any bit of the national party conventions. Yes, I’ll avoid it, too. None of them has been on the excitement level even of a State of the Union address. If there’s something huge, a stupendous announcement, or an election-risking gaffe, conventions or presidential addresses are rebroadcast so often any of us can catch it on cable TV or online.
The news gradually is filling with advance coverage. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a lengthy essay on how to reclaim conventions to have impact. It doesn’t really address how a couple of days of arguing about platform planks will excite cable TV viewers. (Ever notice how the platform never is heard about again?) That’s the business end of the convention. At night, well, will either convention approximate for the first time either a tent revival or an organized music fest? Or even the ennui of New Year’s Rockin‘ Eve?
A month ago the Journal poked fun at the Democrats’ attempts to hold an environmentally conscious meeting. Actually, this was a fairly neutral news article, but it made me cringe at some spots and gape at others. Liberals still have issues with Coors? The ecological angle is mined still, even this morning in a local paper (Denver’s): Aren’t offset exchanges unnecessarily complicated for a publicity stunt? In the meantime, the Dems might have some engaging Hollywood acts, but when they’re on TV producers return us to the booth for experts to chat to us. Imagine, falling back on C-SPAN for tunes.
How are the Republicans? Their official convention Web site has a page on its green impact. They’re not saying much about why we voters need to watch. The comic strip Doonesbury claims McCain’s party planners are stocking their show with has-beens and fuddy-duddies, but news sites with basic keyword searches show nothing confirmed. The cartoonist is having some fun on his own, perhaps. The GOP in the past has leaned toward country music, though lots of Nashville’s finest either avoid endorsements in either direction or are even … not conservative.
In the end, cable television allows for greater convention coverage while at the same time tempts everyone to find dozens of other programs to watch. The enthusiasm is such that you can hear a balloon drop.
