After a well-executed Republican National Convention in Tampa, it is now time for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
The Democrats responded to the RNC by changing their speaker lineup, adding women and minorities to their roster, which I take to mean that Republican Convention was effective. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s speech was presidential—it wouldn’t be hard to imagine her giving that if she were the nominee. Just as stirring was Senator Rubio’s. Some left-wing critics noted that the RNC stage was more diverse than the RNC delegation; I ask, would you prefer it the other way around?
I’m afraid that that’s the case with the DNC. As the very liberal Matt Yglesias tweeted, “[the] DNC lineup exaggerates whiteness of the party relative to its actual voting base.” So in the Republican Party, the white majority are governed by minorities, and in the Democratic Party, the minorities are ruled by whites. You tell me which party is racist, which is the party of old white men!
One good way to judge the confidence of a campaign is to note how often it uses ad hominem attacks. The more ad hominems, the less confident they must be. Keep this in mind as you watch the Convention.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Tuesday-night speaker, reminds me a lot of a younger Obama. He is young, black, and at least pays lip service to healing the partisan divide in this country. His speech tells me that Americans aren’t quite jaded with this sanctimony yet.
President Carter, to whom Governor Romney subtly compared President Obama during his acceptance speech, is not present. Neither, tellingly, is Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She is on the opposite side of the globe, visiting the Cook Islands, Indonesia, China, and Russia. She has become a popular figure as Secretary of State, and would be a valuable asset at the Convention; As Secretary of State she can't participate in any political events.
Her husband, however, will be there, which, surprisingly, will probably not hurt the Democrats focus on women voters. Clinton is, despite his sins, highly popular with women. They propelled him to re-election in 1996, and he is as much of an asset in this voting bloc as any female speaker.
Every convention, on both sides, wants more than almost anything, to get a high-profile politician of the opponent’s party to endorse their candidate. This year the Republicans got former Congressman Artur Davis, and the Democrats have former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who is a much better known figure than Davis. I expect that this will be effective in Florida, which may be the most important state in the Union this November.
The usual Sunday morning attack-dogs will be there: Senators Durbin and Schumer, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. I can’t see how their decidedly negative rhetoric will inspire the base. Negativity is the whole purpose of the Massachusetts lineup: Barney Frank,Deval Patrick, Tom Menino, who will all no doubt decry Romney’s tenure as Governor.
I’m hardly the only one to express doubts about the effectiveness of the focus on social issues in this election. The American people generally turn against anyone whom they perceive to be the aggressor on these issues. The Democrats, then, will succeed on these issues to the extent that they can portray the Republicans as the aggressors in the “war.” Expect Sandra Fluke, Elizabeth Warren, Kathleen Sebelius, Cecile Richards, Barbara Mikulski, and, of course, Nancy Pelosi and her “presentation of the women of the House of Representatives” to overreach on this one. I mean, what is Eva Longoria doing speaking at the DNC? What are her qualifications? What is her expertise? Surely this is an overreach.
Sanctimony can easily backfire in American politics. Besides,Democrats have as much of a gap with men as Republicans do with women. While there is a higher percentage of women who vote than that of men, why isn’t there any pressure on Democrats to appeal to men? Again, this self-righteousness about so-called women’s issues may come back to haunt them in November, when unemployment is still over 8%.
In a far wiser move, the Convention has some prominent swing-state politicians speaking, including Tom Vilsack of Iowa, Kay Hagan, Jim Hunt and David Price of North Carolina, Jared Polis of Colorado, and several Ohio politicians. This is what both parties ought to be focusing on, not on divisive, slice-and-dice politics of race, gender, and class. This election is going to be decided by ten counties: I suggest speaking to them.
As with the RNC, this is a mixture of choices wise and foolish. It remains to be seen what, if any, poll boost the party will receive.
