Patterico's Pontifications

8/26/2008

And the Message is …

Filed under: 2008 Election — DRJ @ 6:30 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

A political convention is like a 4-day infomercial or a mini-series. The convention must have a message that holds viewers’ attention and inspires them to work and vote for a candidate.

So far, this convention doesn’t have a clear message and has barely inspired people to work and vote for Obama. Instead, it’s appears to be a series of unrelated moments punctuated by emotional tributes to past leaders. So far, those moments have focused on rehabilitating Michelle Obama’s image on Day 1, giving Hillary Clinton center stage on Day 2, and presumably includes placating Bill Clinton on Day 3.

James Carville covered the convention last night with CNN’s Anderson Cooper and he’s worried about the lack of focus:

“Well if this party has a message it has done a hell of a job of hiding it tonight I promise you that,” Carville said.
***
“David Gergen said this a short time ago, that in the first two hours what is the message?” said Cooper.

“And you know what? David didn’t get to where he was in life because he’s stupid He was exactly right. I look at this and I am about to jump out of my chair…There’s no message coming out of here, there is no sense that the party has a sense of urgency, and we’ve only got four nights this is 25% of the whole thing.”

Some of the speakers can present the Democratic view in a way that will inspire delegates and home viewers, and I expect Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to do well. They should give excellent speeches that will mobilize Democrats to oppose Bush-McCain, support Barack Obama, or both. But that’s a mere 3+ hours out of 4 days of non-stop coverage.

At this point, I think the Democrats would be better positioned if they put the Obama girls on stage for a couple of hours every day.

— DRJ

14 Responses to “And the Message is …”

  1. “I think the Democrats would be better positioned if they put the Obama girls on stage for a couple of hours every day.”

    DRJ – Or they could have Speaker Pelosi threaten to drill peoples’ brains if they don’t vote for Obama to continue a theme she started today when she encountered some protesters unhappy with her stand on energy.

    daleyrocks (d9ec17)

  2. The Obama people are really amateur.

    Some of my clients are dealing with the DNC as vendors, and the story of utter incompetence in the management structure was bad enough earlier but when the Obama people took over it went from junior high to kindergarten.

    These people have no business being anywhere near the White House. They are going to make the Clinton’s of ’93 look competent.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  3. …or they could have a massive sing-along and worship Obama with the big screen American Prayer. It. Has. Celebrities.

    http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWU1NzEzZjU2NDVlNWJkZWFhZTRhMmU1MzVkYzcwNWY=

    Dana (084de8)

  4. I think the Democrats would be better positioned if they put the Obama girls on stage for a couple of hours every day.

    As the polls continue to tighten, don’t think that Obama won’t use them again as props. November’s still a long way away.

    Vermont Neighbor (a066ed)

  5. There is a message, certainly unmeant: they should have nominated Hillary.

    htom (412a17)

  6. The week has been a series of disasters for the DNC. Bill Clinton saying you might be better voting for someone who only agrees with you 50% but who can get things done. Then Obama runs a TV ad bringing up the subject of Bill Ayres. Nancy Pelosi determines Catholic theology.

    Yup, a great week.

    MIke K (2cf494)

  7. Obama trying to use prosecutors to silence Ayers critiques was indeed a disastrous move. It’s too early in the cycle for that to work. We’re going to see more and more on the topic.

    Obama could have just said “I made a mistake associating with this man… he’s not the Ayers I have known for years, but he’s unrepentant and I refuse to associate with him in the future”. Sure, it would be BS, but now it’s about Obama’s hatred of free speech.

    Juan (4cdfb7)

  8. “So long, and thanks for all the fish!”

    The end of the Kennedy Era as he passes the torch. Or tries to. At the moment it seems to have tumbled to the ground between the Clintons and Obama. Obama’s sitting there in a perplexed panic, Hillary’s edging to get a hand on the torch.

    Al (b624ac)

  9. This is all about getting Hillary a good position for 2012. They expect to lose.

    Kevin Murphy (0b2493)

  10. The Democrats would be doing a lot better if they actually had somebody to nominate. I realize it’s a forlorn hope now, but I think the best course would be for the roll call vote to result in a virtual tie for Obama and Clinton, with the 15th vote bringing the Democratic Party together under the one man in the nation who exemplifies their hopes and aspirations; the one man who symbolizes Democratic ideals; the only person with the experience, the gravitas, the ideology in step with the American people as a whole, instead of a small whiny majority. The man who can bring the Democratic Party and the nation as a whole to a better, brighter future, John McCain.

    Alan Kellogg (cf2b4d)

  11. The words “change” and “Kennedy” do not belong in the same sentence.

    Amphipolis (fdbc48)

  12. Hey, James!
    Keep digging, there’s got to be a pony in there.

    Another Drew (7e1367)

  13. AD – Or a unicorn.

    JD (5f0e11)

  14. Well, if it is the latter, we can only hope that it will find him.

    Bigot!

    Another Drew (7e1367)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0732 secs.