A tale of two conventions (guess whose figures to turn out better)

[BeyondGeography]

Unity

The Democrats were supposedly divided, but our "divisions" were personal (Obama v. Clinton) not philosophical (extreme of the party vs. the center). The party left Denver united.

The Republicans were supposedly more united, but McCain "wanted to do Joe or Ridge," and he was told by his own party that he couldn't. Instead of making a play for the center, he went for an extremist. Republicans are keeping it quiet, but many fear that McCain has blown the election by playing for the base. Their differences are philosophical, not personal.

Details, details

Obama was told by everyone in the media he needed to define himself and get beyond the cult of personality. He orchestrated a convention where all speakers were armed with the same basic talking points (McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time; McCain wants to give $4 billion tax breaks to Big Oil; Obama will give 95% of Americans a tax break; Obama will create 5 million new green jobs). Everyone now knows what Obama stands for.

McCain's convention has been personality-driven; his war record and who on earth is Sarah Palin are the big themes so far. Nobody knows what the Republicans stand for.

It's about the candidate

The MSM looked at two separate evenings of Hillary and Bill, and concluded that it would be the Clinton convention, not the Obama convention. Obama gave them their keynotes and created his own space with 84,000 viewers at Mile High. When it was over, there was no doubt whose convention it was.

McCain's choice of Sarah Palin has consumed his convention. Her speech tonight will turn out to be much more anticipated than his, and will probably get better reviews because the McCain campaign is spending tons of political capital with media right now to giver her a "fair shake." When this is over, there will be a debate over whose convention this was.

The pivot

Obama has selected a low-maintenance running mate, and running a clean, error-free convention has its benefits. Obama and Biden went straight to the battleground states and got on with their campaign.

McCain can only wonder how Palin will perform on the stump, and McCain/Palin have restricted access to the media throughout their convention. Not a single presser to deal with the myriad questions surrounding McCain's selection process and her record. Coming out of this convention, McCain will have a lot of cleaning up to do before he can get on with his campaign.

[FrenchieCat]

1. Wow, what a pic!

Let's keep our eyes on the prize!

[BeyondGeography]

2. There's a reason you're feeling good, Dems