political conventions

I used to watch them religiously, gavel to gavel, both Republicans and Democrats.  Now, I find it's hard to develop any enthusiasm for the effort. Also, since we don't have cable and since the broadcast networks cover only an hour a night, forget it. All the good stuff can be seen on the 'Net anyway.

In those long ago days, things sometimes happened at conventions. Sometimes even the outcome wasn't clear until the votes were taken.  Now the conventions are coronation parties for the winners, with their content [usually] tightly controlled and scripted. One team, one fight, one endlessly repeated message.

It's important to remember that the Democratic and Republican parties really exist only at their quadrennial conventions. The rest of the time they are only a fundraising and publicity staff in Washington. The rest of the time they are split into 50 state parties that nominate candidates and run elections.

Given these facts, I'm surprised/appalled that there are 15,000 journalists in Charlotte trying to find news from the 5,000 delegates and their friends.