watching the convention
I’m watching the convention with half an ear. For some reason, I can’t get my local PBS station at the moment, and the CNN coverage is driving me nuts — I’d rather listen to the speakers than to James Carville. They’re saying that there’s not much happening that’s of interest to the television audience, but there’s no way to tell from their coverage, since they’re not actually letting anyone hear the speakers.
I’m enjoying reading the twitters from Bitch PhD, but am not sure they’re really adding to my understanding of the convention.
Ted Kennedy looks damn good under the circumstances. He’s far less jowly than my image of him — don’t know if he’s lost weight or what.
I read the draft Democratic Party platform earlier today. In some ways platforms are always fairly meaningless documents — they’re written by committee, and include something for everyone, so they don’t tell you anything about what the real priorities will be when the rubber hits the road. But, as laundry lists go, it’s a fine one.
I don’t have much to say about the choice of Biden as VP. I don’t think he changes the dynamics of the race much. He’s got good foreign policy credentials. NPR this evening had a long piece about whether his support for the awful bankruptcy bill was because the credit card companies are major constituents or because they’re major donors. I’m not sure the distinction is meaningful. It’s the same problem as Schumer’s support of tax loopholes for hedge funds. Fred at Stone Court says that Biden was particularly disrespectful to Elizabeth Warren during the debate.
The Republican candidate for Congress in this district just ran an ad that says he’s the one to support for "real change" in Washington. Choke.
Michelle did a good job. T. walked in during the "ice cream" part of the speech and we both went "awww…" If you’ve already read Dreams from my Father, there’s not that much new in her description of Barack, though.
Gaak. CNN has been going on about Carville’s complaints that there wasn’t enough "red meat" in the evening, but they just admitted that they didn’t cover Pelosi’s speech which did get people in the convention hall rared up. Why? Because they were talking with Carville!!
August 26th, 2008 at 9:39 am
For the true junkie, you can watch every minute of it live.
http://gallery1.demconvention.com/
August 26th, 2008 at 11:17 am
The fact that the DNC and Obama camp had to reintroduce Obama is a problem. The night was too sentimental of a tone, but I am hoping they will get more fierce in the next day or two. To leave the job to be negative on McCain to the Clintons will bother me.
As for Biden, this pick really was terrible for a multitude of reasons. It seems to be an admission by Obama that he is not ready and needs someone more experienced as 2nd in command. Second, as you mentioned the bankruptcy bill. Third, Biden as chairman of the senate judiciary committee on the Clarence Thomas hearing. This guy has been in the senate longer than McCain and there will be a lot of digging up by journalists and the Republicans. Geographically, he does not do much for Obama. I was hoping for Clinton, but knew I was dreaming. I thought Richardson would have been a much better pick for Obama.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I loved Michelle Obama’s speech, not so much anyone else’s. Still, it was a good start to the week.
I didn’t realize until halfway through — as I was switching channels in frustration — that I could get the best coverage on PBS. You’d think I would have known this, having worked at the PBS/NPR station in Dallas, but apparently not. I couldn’t stand the fact that MSNBC, CNN and even C-SPAN had so much going on their screens (pointless crawl, station logo, an every-other-second reminder that you’re watching the DNC convention) that I couldn’t get a good picture of the event. Plus, PBS was the only one who broadcast it in letterbox format, so I was able to get a view of everything without having to worry about name credits being cut off (the problem with the other stations, which apparently think that everyone in America now has a widescreen TV).
Oh, and yes, I was appalled that the other stations would choose to cut away from most of the speeches and instead listen to their commentator’s inane chatter all night. I actually like Carville, but I didn’t tune in to watch him, I tuned in to watch the convention. Grrrr.
Just discovered your blog, by the way, and am loving it.
Cheers,
Marjorie