Walter Shapiro perfectly describes what it's like to be at the Democratic National Convention this week.
"A political convention has become an anachronism; the glory days of
smoke-filled rooms, delegates in funny hats, and suspenseful roll-call
votes are gone. Conventions are now excuses for both parties to
bludgeon the television networks into running four nights of political
infomercials. The elaborate and seemingly endless negotiations over
whether Hillary Clinton will get a full roll-call vote on Wednesday
night or whether the balloting will quickly be broken off for an
Obama-by-acclamation confetti drop illustrate how ridiculously
ritualized the whole quadrennial spectacle has become. So, in a sense,
every reporter in Denver is on the television beat. And the
journalistic danger lies in confusing the attitudes of the studio
audience (the delegates) with the sentiments of Nielsen families (the
voters)."
August 25, 2008
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