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The Conventions, The Oscars Awards Show Of Politics

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Democratic National Convention 2008
Posted on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 05:59:48 PM EST
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Sooo, maybe I am not supposed to write this, but, this Convention thing? Incredibly boring. I know Obama will light it up Thursday night, and Bill and Hillary Clinton are must sees. Joe Biden should be interesting, but already he is the forgotten man. Mark Warner? Come on. And having to listen to talking heads all day and night? Ugh.

They say politics is show business for ugly people, and I must say conventions are to politics what the Oscars Awards Shows are to show business. Except they last for 4 days, not 4 hours.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

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    The Conventions, The Oscars Awards Show Of Politics | 28 comments (28 topical)

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    Record It (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by BDB on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:04:13 PM EST
    and play video games is my plan. I can go back and catch the highlights (speeches by Kennedy, Clinton, Clinton, Gore) and ignore the rest.

    Mark Warner has already said his speech will contain little red meat.  Which in addition to making it boring, also makes it politicall stupid.  I was reading a Salon piece about conventions that didn't work and one of the oft cited problems with 2004 was that so little of the convention was spent defining Bush as bad (not by Kerry but by others, like keynote speaker Obama although that part went unsaid on Salon).  So then Bush was free to define Kerry and make the election about him.  

    Ms. Keenan, from NARAL, (none / 0) (#5)
    by oculus on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:09:01 PM EST
    did a good job of calling out McCain on reproductive rights, women's health care funding, and failed abstinence programs.

    Parent
    Glad to Hear It (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by BDB on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:10:18 PM EST
    Would be even gladder if such speeches weren't being constantly undermined by the inclusion of so many forced birth zealots in the name of Unity.

    Parent
    So true. Terry Gross on Fresh Air (none / 0) (#8)
    by oculus on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:16:33 PM EST
    interviewed a man today who discussed why Obama can't draw that line in the sand and how the Dems. are implementing the plan to woo the religious right.  

    Parent
    What is a forced birth zealot? (none / 0) (#10)
    by samtaylor2 on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:25:48 PM EST


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    People (none / 0) (#13)
    by BDB on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:28:58 PM EST
    who want to deny women access to abortion and usually birth control as well - they want to force women to have babies.  So much truer, IMO, than calling someone "pro-life" because that ignores the woman's life (a coincidence I'm sure) and it gets to what they really want - control over women and their bodies.

    Parent
    My great, great, great aunt (none / 0) (#25)
    by samtaylor2 on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 07:07:59 PM EST
    (I am not sure how many greats). Was a forced baby maker.  The slave owner really "liked her though" and freed her at 40 as she was "used up". (NOTE- the next line said that if she was mean to his wife she could make her a slave again- Bet that women got a birthday present every year). I have my families manumition papers (freedom papers) on the wall in my house.  Just a cool piece of awful history.

    Parent
    "forced birth" (none / 0) (#29)
    by weltec2 on Tue Aug 26, 2008 at 03:04:46 AM EST
    sounds like a new improved more violent euphemism for abortion.

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    Too bad (none / 0) (#22)
    by nemo52 on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 07:00:54 PM EST
    NARAL jumped the gun on endorsing Obama before the primaries were over, especially with a real pro-choice woman on the ballot.  They're permanently off my contributions list!

    Parent
    The Oscars.... (5.00 / 2) (#9)
    by p lukasiak on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:21:12 PM EST
    ...aren't fixed.

    Its more like the awards shows that exist only because people watch award shows, and the "winner" has to be someone willing to show up to get the award.

    The biggest reason to watch the Oscars is that there is some suspense about who the winner will be, and how they will react.  None of that exists at the convention -- even the "dissent" is choreographed.

    FOX has had some interesting guests on (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by Grace on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:27:14 PM EST
    Heidi Li (not sure of the spelling), the Wisconsin Hillary delegate who was kicked out of the Convention for refusing to vote for Obama (she's doing a McCain commercial now), PUMA people, and some other "ununified" Democrats.

    Bottom line:  Lots of people angry over the way the party short-circuited the nomination process.  Unfortunately, that part has very little to do with Obama (so I don't know how he or Hillary can fix it) and everything to do with the party leaders.

    Other thoughts:  The Democratic Party needs to change the way it nominates candidates.  If the person with the most Pledge Delegates wins, the we don't need Super Delegates.  And I think states ought to be "Winner Take All."  What we have now is pure lunacy!      

    Forgot to check w/my friend who (none / 0) (#1)
    by oculus on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:03:33 PM EST
    was a delegate in Boston.  Do the delegates have to show a certain amount of time listening to speeches before they can get into the parties?  No way could I sit through these speeches.

    Biden did good hacking at Giulliani. (none / 0) (#3)
    by Salo on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:07:21 PM EST
    But that's about it.

    That little quip (none / 0) (#15)
    by RalphB on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:45:42 PM EST
    sure got Biden a lot of votes, didn't it?

    Parent
    Oscar Show (none / 0) (#4)
    by JimWash08 on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:07:47 PM EST
    Couldn't have said it any better. With the music that leads in to the people coming on to speak, the chirpy voice-over lady, the music/song & dance interludes, it's all one huge stage show.

    The speakers so far have been utterly boring. Except for a couple, they all stand there with a scary stare and read off the teleprompter. Couldn't the DNC have invested in some public-speaking training for these people -- not a 4-day seminar, but a 20-30 min crash-course in the fundamentals of speaking like you mean it.

    Has anyone seen the set-up and stage for the Republican Convention in Minneapolis? It's extremely understated with the backdrop of a really nice, wavy American flag. Unfortunately, I cannot find a full-color picture online.

    The New York Times today had color-picture comparisons of the RNC and DNC stages, and you can just see the sequel for the Celebrity ad writing itself.

    A really good choreographer would (none / 0) (#7)
    by oculus on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:11:03 PM EST
    help also.

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    One party looks like (none / 0) (#20)
    by RalphB on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:58:51 PM EST
    it's giving out an MTV video award, while the other may be nominating a president.  Images can be powerful as Michael Deaver showed everyone with the Reagan campaigns.


    Parent
    Homework (none / 0) (#12)
    by Carolyn in Baltimore on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:28:20 PM EST
    My 14 year old started 8th grade today. His 1st homework assignment is to watch 1 hour a night of both Dem and Repub Conventions.
    Should be interesting. Tonight at dinner we talked about Teddy Kennedy and his importance and why I don't like Obama and why Hillary supporters are angry still.

    Should be great. I'm glad to have company and a good reason to watch.

    forced to watch the conventions? (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by p lukasiak on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:50:11 PM EST
    aren't there laws against child abuse in your state?

    Parent
    Child abuse..... (none / 0) (#26)
    by Carolyn in Baltimore on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 07:23:18 PM EST
    yes, I guess there are. But it does make it all better for me and I can further indoctrinate him since he is quite aware he'll be voting in '12.

    So far I've done a great job - he's very liberal and he supported Hillary in the primaries. And He has helped me campaign with some local candidates. I'll continue to abuse him happily.

    Parent

    I was watching the convention... (none / 0) (#14)
    by lentinel on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:35:52 PM EST
    After a speech, musicians on stage started playing, "Dance to the Music", and folks starting rockin' and bobbing their heads.

    I thought about the people in Iraq.
    What must our soldiers think of this spectacle?
    What would the Iraqi people think of this were it to be shown there?

    I wish this were a convention of angry people.
    People who voted for an end to the war in 2006 and got nothing.

    I know it's showbiz, what why is it showbiz? How did it come to this?

    The Dancing In The Stands (none / 0) (#16)
    by JimWash08 on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:49:56 PM EST
    It seems almost circus-like. I don't quite remember if this has been the case at previous conventions.

    They seem all in a trance. Don't get me wrong; it seems like a party, but a tad bit excessive; a lil' crazy.

    Yes they've always danced. (none / 0) (#18)
    by Maria Garcia on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:54:37 PM EST
    ....at least as far back as 1992. Not much to dance about before that.

    Parent
    Always danced and waved and (none / 0) (#23)
    by MichaelGale on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 07:04:07 PM EST
    hoop de dood.

    Parent
    Washington DC is Hollywood for the ugly (none / 0) (#19)
    by andgarden on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 06:56:37 PM EST
    But the conventions are typically produced by people from Hollywood. (Remember "Where are the effing balloons?")

    effing balloons :-) (none / 0) (#21)
    by RalphB on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 07:00:48 PM EST
    was funny, but this time they've outdone themselves.

    Parent
    I hate to dissapoint you (none / 0) (#24)
    by themomcat on Mon Aug 25, 2008 at 07:05:40 PM EST
    but there will be no "effing" balloons at the stadium. At least that's what I hear.

    Parent
    Except for the Clinton (none / 0) (#30)
    by weltec2 on Tue Aug 26, 2008 at 03:08:14 AM EST
    speeches, I expect most of this convention -- for those who can attend -- to be about mixing with and making new friends. Other than that...

    The Conventions, The Oscars Awards Show Of Politics | 28 comments (28 topical)

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