New York Times: “As in many turbulent TV productions, there were differing impulses behind its creation. It was the pet project of the president, made on the theory that he has a hold on low-propensity voters who will go to the polls only for him. The counterargument is the president’s ratings among other voters, who might go to the polls against candidates who embrace him.”
“Thus we got Schrödinger’s Convention, made in the paradoxical hope that it would be both watched and not watched. It was carried in its entirety on C-SPAN and in considerable part by conservative outlets including Fox News and Newsmax. It was also up against high-profile NFL games each night, which one could see as a challenge or a blessing. Surely at least some Republicans would have been just as happy if no one watched.”
“For better or worse, some of us did. What we saw was the culmination of the decades-long trend that has turned conventions from substantive political events into pure long-form TV ads.”
