Sorry, but last night's convention was pathetic. It was clear that the media and delegates expected, wanted, needed; red meat. ABB buttons pushed hotly, Bush's head on a rhetorical pike, the Eeeevil Cheney drawn and quartered with a dull Halliburton knife, Rumsfeld ridiculed on a leash, Jews Neocons baited and the two uppity house blacks whipped. What did they get? Polled, focus grouped, dumbed down pap and a party that bears no resemblance to the caustic seven-month long ABB hatefest they've cheered.
Network anchors and political analysts struggled to gin up a story and finished by half-heartedly stroking Clinton. The media was visibly disappointed, they wanted a Wellstonian rally, and they got a snooze fest not even Clinton could redeem.
The funniest interview of the night was NBC's Campbell Brown trying to goad Howard Dean into speaking off script.
The Dems should return Jimmy Carter to pasture, he's totally out of touch with reality and Gore has become a cartoonish study in sour grapes and little more than a footnote in electoral history.
Hillary? A rote performance to keep hope alive for 2008, her shrillness always reminds me of the Seinfeld bit where Mary Hart's voice gave Kramer seizures.
This of course brings us to Bill Clinton. His handlers should convince Clinton to abandon the finger pointing shtick...it only serves to recall his most notorious use of the device. Dick Morris pronounced Clinton's speech "a masterpiece" and it was, as an advert for Clinton, but it only served to remind Dems that Clinton is not the nominee and make them wish he were. Elliot Fladen saves me the aggro of critiquing Clinton's content in his excellent post.
...Then Clinton explained the differences between how Republicans and Democrats sought to achieve their goals.As somebody not planning on voting major party in this election, I found the problem with the comparisons the speech made was they were bullshit.
Exactly. I don't see how the Dems can win by presenting themselves as something they are not. In order to keep their base energized, they must return to the Michael Moore-Moveon.org playbook and that will only serve to remind swing voters that they are being tricked.
(hat tip to Instapundit)