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denver
November 2009 
Staged Unity in Denver
Posted on Aug 31st, 2008
by 
Albert
Albert
A Post Convention analysis from Norman Birnbaum. Very pragmatic and -for me -intuitively grasping that changing direction of history never could be anticipated by looking into the crystal ball or making rain dances or making theoretical algorithms.
Staged Unity in Denver
Occasionally, serious issues are up for debate at political conventions in the United States. But not at the Democratic convention in Denver. Political analyst and sociologist Norman Birnbaum writes that the Democrats scripted a tightly-controlled performance of unity.
Having just been to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, one could come away regretting having missed some of the lively parties held in the evenings. There is very little else to regret. Television has provided the essentials. For every Denver blog worth reading, there are 10 which are notable only for their authors' self-important obtuseness and querulousness.
Why, however, should unknown citizens not have the same right as our media stars -- to make fools of themselves? The major theme of newspaper and television reporting, sedulously repeated by bloggers claiming that they have independent perspectives, was entirely exaggerated. Would the Clintons, defeated in their bid to return to power, take their revenge by somehow sabotaging or stealing Obama's show? Of course not: the Clintons, more than anyone, have no taste for permanent residence in the political wilderness. To give less than full support to Obama would be to risk being blamed for his defeat, should that happen. Should he win, despite their efforts to defeat him, his revenge would be pitiless. In either case, the Clinton's chances for a return to power of some sort would be very reduced.
...
How did the speech affect the nation? We will not know, even when the polls give us their answers. There are some 50,000 historians, political scientists and social psychologists in our universities. Fifteen-thousand political journalists were at the convention. There are thousands of chroniclers and writers, and innumerable veterans of recent politics not at all reticent about sharing the lessons they have learned. We can add the professional advisors and consultants who live not for but from politics -- thousands in Washington alone. They have one thing in common: They cannot really predict how and why our citizens will vote. (The historians, for example, are still arguing about the elections of 1832.)
Continue Reading....
Staged Unity in Denver
Occasionally, serious issues are up for debate at political conventions in the United States. But not at the Democratic convention in Denver. Political analyst and sociologist Norman Birnbaum writes that the Democrats scripted a tightly-controlled performance of unity.
Having just been to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, one could come away regretting having missed some of the lively parties held in the evenings. There is very little else to regret. Television has provided the essentials. For every Denver blog worth reading, there are 10 which are notable only for their authors' self-important obtuseness and querulousness.
Why, however, should unknown citizens not have the same right as our media stars -- to make fools of themselves? The major theme of newspaper and television reporting, sedulously repeated by bloggers claiming that they have independent perspectives, was entirely exaggerated. Would the Clintons, defeated in their bid to return to power, take their revenge by somehow sabotaging or stealing Obama's show? Of course not: the Clintons, more than anyone, have no taste for permanent residence in the political wilderness. To give less than full support to Obama would be to risk being blamed for his defeat, should that happen. Should he win, despite their efforts to defeat him, his revenge would be pitiless. In either case, the Clinton's chances for a return to power of some sort would be very reduced.
...
How did the speech affect the nation? We will not know, even when the polls give us their answers. There are some 50,000 historians, political scientists and social psychologists in our universities. Fifteen-thousand political journalists were at the convention. There are thousands of chroniclers and writers, and innumerable veterans of recent politics not at all reticent about sharing the lessons they have learned. We can add the professional advisors and consultants who live not for but from politics -- thousands in Washington alone. They have one thing in common: They cannot really predict how and why our citizens will vote. (The historians, for example, are still arguing about the elections of 1832.)
Continue Reading....
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