What did you make of the Democratic convention?

[Rerun]

       

Was it just my TV or did Michelle have a hair problem?       

I personally don't need to know about a candidate's family life, and I don't really need to hear speeches from his/her spouse.  Mr. Obama has been president for four years, and if the American people STILL know so little about him that the Democrats felt the need to "introduce" him yet again, then that makes me wonder if anyone is listening at all.

[Jean]

100% Agreed!!!

[justme15]

rerun- did you feel this way when Romney's wife spoke?

and I thought her hair was perfect! :-)

[Rerun]

rerun- did you feel this way when Romney's wife spoke?

and I thought her hair was perfect! :-)

First Part...... see the RNC thread.     

Second part.... no she had this piece of hair on her right sid that just stuck out!  No one has mentioned it.....  How could no one see it? 

[Bill Peckham]

It was just the first night but so far it is a much stronger convention in terms of political messaging. The Democrat's speeches actually reinforced each other, played off each other as opposed to the Republican's first day - Mrs Romney "It's about love!", Christie "It's not about love!".

And rather than speak from a position of weakness - "The President doesn't think you built your business"; "The President wants to give money to people for not working" - twisting Obama's words to create a strawman to run against, the Dems talked about what has been accomplished in the last three years. The Democrats did a much better job of creating a narrative arc that finished with the First Lady's speech. The Democratic speakers also said their nominee's name early and often which was only striking because of how most of the Republican speakers didn't mention Romney until the end which made it sound like an afterthought (I'm thinking of Christie in particular). And just in terms of basic political competency the Republicans never mentioned the war in Af/Pak or even the troops. I mean not even one comment from the first night speakers about the fact that we're at war and as they were speaking we have tens of thousands of troops in harms way. The Democrats checked that box early and often.

It was just night one but my impression is that the Democrats did a much better job planning and delivering their messages; and there was a lot more enthusiasm and engagement by the people attending in Charlotte then there was in Tampa. It was example, after example, of political malfeasance in Tampa; so far Charlotte has been humming along.

And as far as spouses speaking - of course they are going to speak. If the person who knows you best can't tell people about you, what would that say?

[jbeany]

      ... that makes me wonder if anyone is listening at all.

Hmmm....I'd say no to that.  If we'd have been listening to the facts, we wouldn't be in this mess - but we'd have needed to start listening a very, very long time ago.  And as far as I can tell, the politicians are the worst offenders, since they only listen to the vocal extremes on either side, and pay so little attention to the majority in the middle who would happily compromise on all kinds of things, if given a chance.

I didn't watch either convention.  Seriously, no one is going to say anything at this point that's going to change my mind on the presidential candidates.  I know who I'm voting for.  (Honestly, is there anyone out there that undecided on who they will vote for in the presidential race?  The candidates are at such extremes, I find it hard to picture.  At least last time, as a middle of the road, moderate, independent, I had to think about it.) 

Right now, any effort I put into reading or learning about the political races needs to be at the local level, where the courts are still debating what's going on Michigan's ballot.  We've been invaded by special interests, all trying to push changes to the state constitution, and it takes a lot of reading and research to figure out what group is pushing what change, and why.

[justme15]

rerun- my bad, after I wrote the post I thought maybe i should read the rnc thread first, but i didn't.  just read it though ( most of it)- and your statement is fair.

i don't know, that side flip is how they're wearing their hair nowadays. I like it!

what does everyone think about the controversial decision to add God and Jerusalem back in the democratic platform?

[Willis]

Just a few random thoughts...

I live near Charlotte and happened to be about 1 mile away last night from the arena where the convention is being held. I was heading for home about 11:10pm (just about the time the last speech ended) and there was a line of buses bumper to bumper--literally--on the freeway that rings the downtown. I think I saw at least 100 buses myself but I could not see the end of the line of buses in either direction so there may have been 1000 buses for all I know. The 6-lane freeway had a police car at every exit and entry ramp. I heard on the radio that I missed by 5 minutes having the entire freeway shutdown for the First Lady's motorcade.

I plan to avoid the immediate area near the convention, but our local news stations are of course 24/7 on this. An area of at least 1 square mile has been fenced in with steel barriers the entire way around with policemen in riot gear everywhere. The city surely must have had to "borrow" policemen as I don't think Charlotte has the number of personnel it seems is necessary to provide the desired level of security. There have been several protests that have involved minor violence that made our local news but I haven't heard about any of that on the national coverage. One woman was arrested for wearing a "mask" (masks were made illegal in the downtown for this week only!) and it seems all she had on was a hoody covering her head. If more than a handful of people start to congregate anywhere inside the cordon the police batons are getting pulled out very quickly. This sort of police action is not the norm in the City of Charlotte area where I have lived for 31 years. One reporter said the whole thing has been like an out-of-control party in a prison yard.

Today I heard that the plans to hold the President's speech at the NFL stadium Thursday night were cancelled and the speech will be indoors due to a 30% chance of thunderstorms. Come on now...this is the South and in August and September there is at least a 30% chance of rain EVERY day.    What braniac thought up the idea to start with? The local scuttlebut though is that they had only been able to sell 10,000 tickets for the stadium speech. Thirty thousand people in a stadium that holds 70,000 would not have looked very good on TV.

Everyone except the politicians will be very glad when things get back to normal and Charlotte is no longer an armed camp.

 

[Bill Peckham]

Thank you President Clinton for focusing attention on the Medicaid cuts proposed in the Republican budgets. Those cuts would devastate the provision of dialysis in many states. And finally someone thanked President Bush, #43, for the PEPFAR program that is credited with saving millions of lives. I don't remember Bush coming up much in Tampa - other than Sec Rice.

Tactically/strategically the night was very successful. Clinton went long - did the networks break away? But it was a great speech, that did a great job answering the charges trumpeted at the Republican Convention by Ryan and Romney. He gave an argument rather than sloganeering, it was the lawyer working to convince the jury. That was a speech by a pure politician who is at the top of his game, no doubt, but seeing that it was ... awesome. Wow.

Warren's speech was strong too, better than I expected. I missed the opening speeches. So far this is a well done political event that is doing some heavy lifting in terms of preparing for the next two months. I didn't get the sense at the Republican Convention that they were preparing for the next two months. Giving people the structure and grounding of arguments as opposed to a series of dubious assertions.

Democrats will be quoting/paraphrasing Clinton and Warren over the next two months to explain their support for the President - "They made a big mess and are telling us we have to get rid of the President because he hasn't cleaned it up fast enough"; "Arithmetic". "We celebrate success. We just don't want the game to be rigged."   Will Republicans be quoting Secretary Rice to explain their support for Romney? Quoting Christie?

[Jean]

How funny that the Dems were screaming at Newt, but when Bill Clinton, the guy who " did not have sex with that woman " speaks, there is a ton of cheering. Meaning? Its not okay for the Republicans to step out of line, but it sure is for the Democrats. Interesting!!

[KarenInWA]

How funny that the Dems were screaming at Newt, but when Bill Clinton, the guy who " did not have sex with that woman " speaks, there is a ton of cheering. Meaning? Its not okay for the Republicans to step out of line, but it sure is for the Democrats. Interesting!!

The thing about this is - Gingrich was the one who blasted Cliinton for his affair, all while he was having an affair himself, while his wife was in her sick bed with cancer. For the party of "Family Values" I fail to see what is so Family Value about that! I certainly don't condone what Clinton did, and I have to give props to both him and Hillary for sticking it through all these years, because I'm sure that wasn't easy. But, I feel it was the height of hypocrisy to have Gingrich lead the charge to impeach Clinton for something that began as an affair.

You certainly don't see John Edwards with a successful political career anymore. His wife was so loved by so many, especially as she shared her battle with breast cancer and all the challenges that posed in her life. Edwards didn't get much support when his affair came out, which is as it should be. Especially given the happy family life he portrayed in his campaign.

In the end, the best way to avoid this type of behavior in our political sphere - in both parties - is to have more women. Do you ever see a female politician making these kinds of headlines?

I always appreciated Bush the 2nd's loyalty to his wife and daughters. I wasn't a fan of the man, but I always appreciate a proud family man. This year, we have 2 that are running for President.

KarenInWA

[Rerun]

Karen is right.  Republicans are usually conservative and need to watch their zipper.  If we stand on the platform of Morals and Family Values then what the heck are they doing screwing around.  Geez!  I don't think either candidate this go around would cheat on their wives.  Not so sure about he running mates.....

I guess I missed Newt's affair!  IKY

[monrein]

I thought her hair looked nice but mostly I was jealous of her buff arms and shoulders.

Ann Romney looked nice too.

And so what...it's got to be about the ideas, the policies, the governing, in other words the meat not the fluff. 

[KAF454]

I guess I missed Newt's affair!  IKY

Which one?

[Bill Peckham]

You convinced me Mr. President, I look forward to casting my vote for you in about eight weeks.

[Gerald Lively]

The conventions!  Ah yes, those conventions.  I miss the old time political conventions before the invention of primary elections.  There was real drama and all the while you felt like a witness to history.  But no more!  These are public relation events, and in these modern times, I suppose they are necessary.

Which was the better convention?  That award goes to the Democrats for two reasons: (1) Enthusiasm, (2) specificity.  One can measure the dullness of the Republican Convention by the performance of Clint Eastwood who established himself as the highlight of that convention.  A sad commentary but I don’t even recall what Romney said in his acceptance speech. 

That vagueness on the issues by the GOP has spread into the campaign rhetoric.  The Romney campaign sounds as if they are trying to communicate a single message: Trust Me!  That will not work against an incumbent President who is promoting issues in fine detail.  Then there is the selection of a Vice-Presidential candidate and running mate to Romney; Oh Boy!  Here is a guy who wants to cut every people program in existence. 

If, as I do, you have a caring attitude for the poor, elderly, the sick and the children, you couldn’t possibly vote for the GOP ticket.

gl

[YLGuy]

That is the part that I do not understand.  The GOP talks about GOD and Christian values a lot.  The GOP budget proposal takes from the schools, the sick, the poor and the elderly.  Even Catholic Bishops have come forward to say that it goes against the teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I have no idea how someone who considers themselves Christian could support such a thing.