The Two Conventions: Passion versus Choreography

The Republican National Convention was more orchestrated than any Broadway extravaganza.  But underneath all that choreography, you couldn’t find a drop of enthusiasm if you used a Geiger Counter.

Mitt Romney was grudgingly — sulkingly — given the nomination, and there weren’t enough fake smiles and synchronized stunts to hide this.  It’s like when you go to somebody’s house, and you can just tell that the couple was arguing before you got there.  They’ll put on their forced smiles and say “Oh, hi!  We’re glad you’re here.  Dinner’s almost ready.”  But they can’t hide the fact that they were in the middle of a huge fight just before you arrived.

And on top of that, most of the RNC speakers were positioning themselves for 2016.  Mitt Romney was an afterthought.  An article about the RNC had a comment at the end of the article saying “Which one was Romney?”

This wasn’t the case with Day One of the Democratic National Convention.  Speaker after speaker tore into the oligarchs and their cute little sockpuppet duo, Mitt and Paul.  Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland:

“Mitt Romney, he lives by a different code.  To him, American workers are just numbers on a spreadsheet. To him, all profits are created equal, whether made on our shores or off…Mitt Romney never saw the point of building something when he could profit from tearing it down. If Mitt was Santa Claus, he'd fire the reindeer and outsource the elves…Barack Obama is betting on the American worker. Mitt Romney is betting on a Bermuda shell corporation.”

Newark Mayor Cory Booker:

“Being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare. It's patriotism…It's not about left or right, but moving America forward and our economy forward.”

He also described the Democratic Party Platform as “focusing on big and practical ideas,” as opposed to the “petty political arguments” in the Republican Party Platform.

Michelle Obama’s line — “We've got so much more to do” — generated more than 22,000 Tweets per minute.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro:

“We all understand that freedom isn’t free.  What Romney and Ryan don’t understand is that neither is opportunity. We have to invest in it.”

Here is some video coverage of yesterday’s DNC speeches.