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The Blog-Free Convention

I have not read a single blog regarding the Democratic National Convention this week in Boston; I have been in Washington, D.C., not meeting with West Virginia's democratic senators who were, not surprisingly, in Boston. So I had an an opportunity to do something cool. Sit in Senator Robert Byrd's chair.

Oh, and to watch the speeches on CSPAN without the benefit of any analysis whatsoever. Unless you count five minutes of Tucker Carlson on CNN, which has baised me with the opinion that Tucker Carlson is a pinhead in a bow tie, and I hope he gets attacked by that dancing monkey who wants it's outfit back.

So, impressions of the convention. First, in the interest of completeness, here are the too-many people I wanted to see, but did not get to:

Al Gore
Carol Moseley-Braun (saw half)
Elizabeth Edwards
Dennis Kucinich
Al Sharpton
Joe Biden
Ed Rendell, Bill Richardson and all the other governors.

It'll be interesting to see how much of this mirrors what's going on in the Blogosphere.

Bill Clinton is now the elder statesman of the Democratic Party; far more partisan than Jimmy Carter and more influential by an order of magnitude than Ted Kennedy. I suspect it's something he'll be good at, unless Hillary runs in 2012.
Jimmy Carter is much more fun to listen to if your eating Chinese food.
Nancy Pelosi is a very, very focused leader determined to get democrats elected to congress, and not above some very shallow partisan rhetoric to do it.
Theresa Heinz Kerry delivered an excellent sound bite, along the lines of, "I am what some people have called 'opinionated.' ... Women should be called well informed just like men." I am predicted she gets trashed for knowing five languages and having a funny accent and, of course, for being "strong willed" and "controlling." But maybe I'm just being cynical.
Wesley Clark and Margaret Thatcher have set themeselves up for possible positions in the administration. Kerry's short list for State should now be Powell, Clark, McCain and——unpopular as it'd be on the left——Colin Powell. The last is unlikely, unfortunately.
Howard Dean is not in a posistion to get a post. He is too left. Unless they give him HUD as a way to make up to the radicals for keeping Powell on. But that is even more unlikely than keeping Powell on in the first place.
In the even more unlikely than that category, Judith Steinberg-Dean would make a great Surgeon General. But that's just plain silly.
Edwards' speech was very similar to the very best opening arguments I heard in the national mock trial competitions I attended in St. Paul and New Orleans. I think he will play better than anyone expects in the south, where lawyers are still respected as professionals.
Ron Reagan's sydicated radio show (LA area, I think) will be picked up by Air America and, hopefully, upstage Al Franken. If Franken & Co are stupid enough not to grab him with the enthusiasm of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Victoria's Secret, then satellite radio will pick him up the way they did former NPR host Bob Edwards.
Barak Obama will be the first black president of the United States of America.
And I'm gonna be working for him.

Guy sez

How did you get into Byrd's chair? Carter sounds good with Chinese food because he is Jewish. And Barack O'Bama sounds Irish to me. But Dean only seems left because of his opposition to the war. I think he is really pretty moderate on everything else.

Posted by Anonymous @ 6:02 PM

My thoughts on the DNC: hearing people make speeches to convince people that already agree with them of things that they already believe is silly. that's without the televised-ness, but still. Congrats to the police for making less than 10 arrests, although they hassled far more people than that. I wish i could have been there protesting. I wish i could be in NYC for the RNC to protest, too. Oh well.

In other news, this is Amanda Krebs, and i miss you.

peaches,
Amanda

Posted by Anonymous @ 2:18 AM