The Morning After.

August 26th, 2008 by Martine St-Victor


First, the expectations were too high. It’s the Democratic National Convention, not the parting of the seas. What is scary about the Conventions (both the current Democratic one and the upcoming Republican one) is that we’ll judge both the candidates on matters which will be irrelevant to how they could perform in the White House and in the end; we will inevitably and humanely compare the two as we would at an Awards show. Best speech? Best wife? Best outfit? Best short-film? Best house band? Best lighting? Best endorsement (Two words: The Kennedys)?
So, since we are judging superficial matters, here are my recommendations:

1. 6 hours per day: too long! Who has that kind of time?;

2. The House Band is too karaoke-like. Obama has enough supporters in the Music Biz to spice up the entertainment at the Convention. Get me Springsteen, Kravitz, Stevie and Santana. Live & Pronto!

3. “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang in between addresses? Are the Dems crazy? First, it’s not a wedding and the last image a country at war & in a recession needs to see are delegates getting down on the Convention floor. Have some decorum, please.

4. CNN needs to remove the “Ticker” during addresses. This is why we are a Nation of ADD sufferers; too much going on at once;

5. CNN needs to get rid of James Carville (he scares the children plus he’s still way too bitter) and Roland Martin (he scares me and he’s way too eager). Give me more John King and more Wolf, of course.

I’m not sure 3 more days of this is necessary. Can’t we just boil it down to three things we really want to see: Hillary Clinton’s speech, Barack Obama’s speech and images of Oprah in the crowd?

Ken Burns should be nominated in the “Best Short-Film at the Convention” Category.



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