I've been watching both national conventions for the presidential election. I have a lot of thoughts about the experience but mostly Im struck by what a strange, almost surreal experience this particular election is. Instead of a series of well written posts, you get one long blurp. Sorry.

what's the point?

What exactly are these conventions? Are they serious business? Are they entertainment? Perhaps infotainment?

And what about the election itself? Is it a job interview or a popularity contest?

Maybe they are all of the above but they sure seem more like popularity contests. Tell me the last interview you were in where they wanted to see photos of your wife and kids, over and over and over?

pick a side, either side

The election and the conversations I have been having about it are a reminder of what I hate most about our political system -- the two-party system. Even though we share a single country, our two-party system brings out the worst in people. An irrational and exuberant passion for one side and a palpable hate for the other side.

Our elections boil down to one thing: our team and the other team. In any issue, there are only 2 choices (as Bush has told us for 8 years). We are the winners; they are the losers. We love our country; they hate our country. We understand each other; they dont understand us. Etc and ad naseum. Year after year, election after election I see the same thing.

The two-party system is so stable because of our tribal allegiance. The last 8 years have a been a total disaster on many levels but the folks that voted for Bush are able to overlook that with a lot of mental jujitsu. The facts, any facts, seem irrelevant in the face our party membership. For whatever initial reason, we choose a party and we stick with it. In the abstract, it is fascinating. Clinton was impeached for having sex while Bush starts a war, ruins the economy and bankrupts the treasury without a peep from the people...

I personally dont care a whit for either party or for the elections themselves. I dont have a red, white and blue hat or any buttons. I can understand why people enjoy the pomp and circumstance of the parties and the contest but at the end of the day, all I care about is the laws that get passed and the laws that dont get passed by the President and Congress. At the end of the day, all I care about is the act of governance and those acts seem to get lost in the contest itself. After all, the contest is about winners and losers and not about the country.

People get so caught up in the game and winning the game they lose sight of the question of whether they should even be playing the game. And it gets even more ironic when people in the game are complaining about how corrupt and terrible the game is, and how only they can fix it.

But dont try to have that conversation with anyone that is passionate about their party or the election or "taking back the White House". They wont want to hear it and probably cannot.

been there, done that

The other thing about this election I have noticed is the call for change. Every 8 to 12 years, there is another strong movement for "change". We are disgusted with politics as usual so we engage in the usual politics to get someone "new" only to find the same results - disgust and a desire for change. Things actually do change quite a bit but the feeling that things are going wrong and we need a change seemingly springs eternal.

In 1980, we got Reagan. In 1992, we got Clinton. In 2000, we got Bush (arguably the worst president ever) and now we get someone new.

I think the 12 year number is significant because it is close to a generation. If you are 18 today, you were 2 years old when Clinton was elected. That is a lifetime. That is history. Every generation bubbles over with hope and enthusiasm and runs dry on experience or hindsight.

I find it very hard to get excited about the Democrat hope & change message because Ive heard the same message so many times before. Even Bush understands, fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, ahhh.... something or other.

the complexity of simple things

The problem with simple solutions is that almost every topic you find is more complex than you think it is. Once you learn about it, get involved in it, you become aware of all the nuance and issues involved. To an ignorant man, every question is easy.

If politics was easy, it wouldnt be so f'd up. If running a country was easy, there wouldn't be so many f'd up countries. Logic and experience suggest that its not as easy as it looks.

The problem with the Democrats taking back the White House and fixing everything is that Democrats had an even hand in fucking things up to begin with.

Bush is a disaster; Cheney is a monster. Removing them and their cronies will have a palpable improvement in Washington but I doubt it will look like much to normal people because we dont understand how things work anyway.

Food magically appears in the grocery store. I get cold water when I turn on the faucet and anything I flush down the toilette disappears into nothingness forever. The details are beyond me and as long as someone else takes care of it for me, they can stay that way.

Both parties are calling for "fixing Washington" and have been most of my life. You will excuse me if I dont hold my breath waiting for it. There are no easy fixes and as a county, and we have lost the will for hard fixes or hard truths.

the only popular rebel is a dead one

And maybe that is what I admire about McCain. The idea that he can handle the hard truth and give me the straight talk. Of course the whole message is a marketing fabrication but at least it is an idea I can relate to. (And a much better idea than promising to repair the middle class. *cough*) I suspect part of the weirdness is that he delivers on that idea more than almost any other politician.

The first rule of politics is to give the people what they want, even if it is a lie. The fact that McCain is able to surprise anyone makes it something of a marvel that he has survived in politics this long. I didnt think Obama would pick Joe Biden (TWO east-coast, ivy-league, liberal elites?) but picking Palin was a surprise.

Frankly I was getting pretty sick of the Democratic message that McCain is Bush-lite. Given the rancor of the 1999 election (which a lot people conveniently forgot), I found it distasteful but McCain came to my rescue. Instead of playing it safe, he did something unexpected. It could be a total disaster, but how many politicians would even consider such a thing? Politicians learn to play it safe and pick Joe Biden.

McCain may be in the Republican party but he is nothing like Bush. One cannot rewrite history but if McCain had won in 2000, we would not be where we are today.

two conventions - two messages

The Democrat convention was a high-energy love-fest right out of a Blues Brother's movie. At any moment, I expected to see Belushi back-flipping down the isles. By contrast, the Republican convention is a flat affair that reflects a party in confusion. If the energy level is any indication, the Democrats should sweep this election. But who actually watches conventions? Just the faithful and most partisan. The rest of America will vote their party and the election may well be close.

The Democrat convention had this weird vibe under the surface. A celebrity death match between Black Man vs Woman. I saw the signs for Unity but I just didnt feel the unity (although both Clinton speeches were excellent). On the other hand, I really like the RNC message: Country First. Sure it sounds like a Southern restaurant chain but it still rings true to me.

Put our country first. All of us should. We have big, huge problems and its time to find a way to deal with them, a way to rally the energy we are only able to rally for war.

the messages

Both conventions were pushing an orchestrated message. We shall see if the public feels the same message.

In the primaries, Obama was all about change. He is different. He will change things, just wait and see. But the convention hardly mentioned that at all. Apparently focus groups said a black messenger of change was too scary; buy us dinner and a few drinks first. The message I saw in the convention was "Hey, Im just a regular guy with a funny name."

As the son of a single mother myself, never in my life have I seen so much love for single parents. Nor have I seen people try harder to make me feel comfortable with a family I will never meet. The DNC totally downplayed change and re-played Bush 2000's message of a normal guy who has kids and understands middle class problems. Of course, most poor kids I knew had to get jobs after college to pay off their loans but maybe if I had paid even more for college it would have been different.

In contrast to the Family Guy, the RNC message is about war and country. Its about McCain the soldier, the man of integrity. A message that is even more weird because people do make sacrifices in war, McCain was one of those people, and yet the Republican party has been run by chickenhawks who never served and started the war in Iraq for other people to fight. Its hard to take the wartime sacrifice and values message seriously when we have so many examples of the opposite from the very people telling us the stories.

Win or lose, I feel bad that McCain is stuck as a "supporter" of a war I feel certain he would never have started in the first place. The ironies of this election are never-ending.

If the Republican message of "love our troops" was tired, it was just as tired when the Democrats trotted it out. Lots of love for the troops. Sadly all the other tired messages were out there too. Democrats will raise your taxes!! (Fear) We can save the middle class and fix the economy! (Hope)

I must say I was very annoyed with the DNC message about the middle class and the economy. You want a better future? Save your money, work your ass off, make your kids study their asses off and get better, high paying jobs. Where is the fucking secret there? Its the same, hard lesson immigrants have been using successfully here for over 100 years yet every election Democrats promise some miracle cure that will make me lose weight and make money while I lay on the couch. *ugh*

weird beard

Yes, this election has a lot of weirdness and more than a little ugliness.

The President is not invited to the convention and then delivers a video-taped presentation so he can stay in D.C. and watch over the relief effort. (Now that is a funny thought, Bush overseeing actual work.) The convention being delayed for a hurricane after we completely ignored New Orleans 3 years ago. A speech by Joe Lieberman?? Good grief. All the female faces in both conventions and then seeing the Republicans nominate a woman after the Democrats refused to.

The common wisdom was that Vice Presidents are irrelevant. Dan Quayle, anyone? The friction between Clinton and Gore because both wanted to be president. Then we had president Cheney, the most powerful VP in history. This election Mr Hope & Change picks the most senior democrat in Congress and the oldest man ever to run picks one of the least experienced females as a VP. Suddenly the VP choice has all this importance except it probably doesnt. Its just more infotainment and distraction. Did you see McCain's 92 year old mother? John's got good genes.

closing

I alternate between being entertained and disgusted by the whole affair. I have heard the promises from both parties year after year. Im waiting for someone to enact changes that I can recognize. Im waiting for someone to tell us that we are poorer than we think, we need to spend less than we want, and we need to do things we dont want to do so that our children can have a better future. If I see any of that, I will become a believer in change.