Friday, September 07, 2012

Post-conventional thoughts

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("Well, Barack, there you go again...")


I still think "Talk to the Chair!" would make a great bumper sticker.

No?

OK, so some final thoughts on the 2012 nominating conventions.

First of all, both parties really, REALLY want the female vote. I mean, both of them spent a lot of time and energy saying "We love the ladies!" Not in so many words, of course. But close. From Ann Romney's "I LOVE YOU WOMEN!" to the Dems’ lineup of women speakers, the female voter has never been courted, so to speak, so fervently.

With the Dems that meant a lot of talk about reproductive rights and a star turn for Sandra Fluke, who, after the despicable way she's been treated by certain media figures, deserves a little adulation.

Being pro-choice is always something that's mentioned at D conventions, but I don't think I've ever seen so much screen time for NARAL, Planned Parenthood, etc, and so much use (by Democrats) of the word abortion. This was one of many examples of what I believe was the most unapologetically progressive/liberal conventions I've ever seen the Dems give. It was kind of nice to see them not trying to water down their stances so much. They were loud and proud, and it was refreshing. Now, does that mean they feel confident, or does it mean they have bought into the "fire up the base and hope a few independents break our way" school of thought that has become popular lately? Probably the latter; maybe both.

It’s really hard to be objective about these events, it might be my (ahem) bias, but the D convention seemed much more fired up and energetic than the R one. Of course, that may be because the average age of D delegates was about two decades younger.

And I think it’s pretty clear that the Democratic convention was better run, with better speakers. Ann Romney was good; Michelle Obama was great. Paul Ryan was not so good. Bill Clinton gave probably the best speech I’ve seen at a convention in years. (Although Sarah Palin’s speech was pretty memorable in 08). I wanted Obama’s speech to be great; it was merely very good. Mitt Romney did pretty well—I thought the sections about his family were very good—but his slick gipperisms and the general lack of content did not impress.

And there were odd moments at the Republican convention. I mean, yeah, Clint Eastwood, chair, yadda yadda. That was bizarre and embarrassing for the GOP. (I love the never-say-die partisanship of some of the pundits, though: “Clint was brilliant!” “It was really funny!” Riiiiiight.)

But what about the weird juxtaposition of Ann Romney saying: “I want to talk to you about love”—followed by Chris Christie saying, “Pick respect over love”? It was a clash of messages, and it seemed strange. Obviously, the planners didn’t coordinate the speeches, and just as obviously, didn’t vet Eastwood’s “speech” at all. Both sides like to claim they’re going to be the “adult in the room.” Wouldn’t an adult have seen the huge downside risks to giving a primetime slot to a guy unaccustomed to public speaking—who doesn’t even have a speech written out??

Which begs the question, if this is how they run a convention, how will they run a country?



Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Fear built this

Dinesh D'Souza's hatchet-job of a movie is drawing big crowds in America's heartland. You can get a taste of it from the trailer below--the ominous music, the dark tones, the barely-articulated suggestions of conspiracy and other-ness. The real giveaway is a series of scenes, cut so quickly as to be almost subliminal, of an African-American family playing the archtypical American game, Monopoly. We see the dice roll, we see the game pieces ending up in jail, we see the family erupt into conflict, dashing the game to the ground. Subtle, and yet not subtle at all.



D'Souza has said in interviews that he is following the example of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" in releasing a political documentary during an election year. Many years ago I debated family members over Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," challenging them to give the filmmaker a chance by viewing the movie. I'm afraid I'm unlikely to follow my own advice anytime soon. The thought of giving money to an enterprise as dishonest and ill-intentioned as this one makes me feel a little sick. So maybe I owe my relatives an apology. But I suspect that D'Souza owes us all one.