Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Do we still need political conventions?

I very much doubt it. I shared my point of view last week: the national party conventions are a a vestigial artifact of a bygone era.

But there clearly are people who disagree and I got a taste of their feelings last night. This was our first night phoning voters to ask for support for Prop. 34, the initiative to replace the death penalty with life in prison without parole. With Prop. 34, we'll have no further risk of executing an innocent person in this state and huge savings of taxpayer dollars too! We chose to talk with older, Democratic women. This could hardly have been a more affirming experience. Though most voters are just beginning to consider California's long list of propositions (eleven this year!), we found a lot of support.

But also, these women let us know we were breaking in on their viewing the Democratic Convention. They were enthusiastic, excited by the show in North Carolina.

Guess they love them some Michelle Obama!

Photo from Charlotte, plucked off Twitter.

3 comments:

Cinderellen said...

I still watch both conventions, but I am not sure that the network version of one hour devoted to the keynote speaker serve much of a purpose. The CSPAN coverage is much better as a chance to hear from all the stars of the party and be energized and encouraged by the speakers.

Rain Trueax said...

I watch pieces of it but prefer to read the text to avoid the emotional responses of the audiences on either end. I am not a fan of conventions; so get any coverage from MSNBC where I hear the commentator's take more than the rest. I though rarely watch political speeches period. From what I have read though of the analysis of the Dems' first night, they have a message and used their speeches to get it out. I like that.

Andréa said...

Thought-provoking! That is a photo of my friend's poster--one of my favorite things he's created--and it's for sale here if you're interested! https://www.etsy.com/listing/23701864/title-recoverygov-first-lady-michelle