Whatever one’s personal politics are, from an objective point of view, last week’s Democratic National Convention from Chicago was one the best and tightest examples of its kind produced for television. “Produced” is the operative word. Unless one streamed the entire day’s business on C-SPAN or other outlet, one missed the boring patches and gaffes that were visible when conventions were aired wall-to-wall throughout the broadcast day.
The DNC effort was polished. There was little downtime between speakers. Rather than have a chairperson or politician introduce speakers, the usual approach this time was to have a unseen voice “welcome” the orator to the podium.
The convention seemed orchestrated in most important ways. Again, politics aside, specific themes were tapped repeatedly. There was always a tribute to President Joe Biden, though he was treated shabbily in the timing of his valedictory speech on Monday.
There was praise for the Democrat nominee, Kamala Harris, and for her running mate, Tim Walz. There was contract expression of “joy,” “hope,” “optimism,” and other buzzwords with positive connotations. Let’s face it.
What appeared on primetime, or even from 6 p.m. if one streamed before getting to the A-listers, the affair was a lovefest and, from a television point of view, accomplished much of what Democrat leadership wanted to convey.
Rhetoric, generality, and the intended message overshadowed substance, but that is the rule for most conv.