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The Musical Party

Now that I'm a bit more removed from the madnesss of the convention, I looked back on it from a musician's perspective (since I must admit that is what I spend much of my time doing).

The convention sent a very pleuralistic musical message with the performers they chose.

We are the party of protest songs, they said (Peter, Paul and Mary; "This Land Is Your Land").
We are the party of rap (Black Eyed Peas) and R&B (Wyclef Jean).
We are the party of immigrants (chinese drum ensembles) and of inner city arts initiatives (a wide assortment of minority choirs and dancers).
We are the party of funk, soul and motown (the house band, Patti LeBelle, the obligatory repitition every day of "Go Johnny Go", "Dancin' In The Street", "Celebration" and other DNCC-blessed classics).
We are the party of white men singing with acoustic guitars (Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp) and of women singer/songwriters (Carole King).
We're even the party of amateur opera singers that sing the national anthem (and may I just say that Sergeant Danny Clark from the Massachussetts State Police, who sang on Thursday afternoon, can pull me over on the highway any day...)

But God forbid that we be the party of country. If you are one of the millions of Americans who like country music, the message was clear: bugger off to the RNC. Not necessarily the best message to be sending...I know progressive country singers are in short supply, but I think my point still stands.

Kerry the tearjerker

This is actually the post that I have been dying to write since last night, but couldn't because of the Gadflyer's tax-exempt status. Although I may have been posing as an impartial blogger for the last week or so, I am heartily sick of never having lived in America when it wasn't in the tight-fisted grip of the Bush Administration (I moved to the States for the first time on Sept. 9th, 2001). And the prime manifestation of my dissatisfaction has been what I consider to be a heathy and active partisanship, hopefully grounded in much thought about the different issues being discussed in this election and why I stand where I stand on them.

Anyway, besides blog stuff, I did work for Dean in NH last summer, I've written letters, called John Sununu's office to get him to vote against the FMA, that kind of thing. Nothing huge, nothing out of the ordinary. But to stand in that convention as Kerry was giving his speech, and to hear him say things that I've wailed about the mainstream media and even mainstream politicians glossing over for months...well, it made me start to cry. (Of course, I have gotten no more than 4 hours of sleep any one night since the convention began which always makes me emotional, plus the fabulous thundering intensity of the crowd also helped more than a little).

Kerry's speech as I heard and read along simultaneously with it was the exact opposite of what I expected. After days of what Jesse called democratic boilerplate, I was sick of the big themes and the expounding of ideals so large and undefined you could barely catch hold of the argument. It's impossible to define "freedom" or "goodness" even in one's own mind after years of thought about the matter; of course it is impossible to say anything new in a 10 minute speech to a sports arena full of chattering people who view you as benign filler.

I think Kerry knew he couldn't smile his way through this speech. He doesn't have the charm of Edwards, the attractive tan handsome face of Clark, the oratorical mastery of Obama or Sharpton or the religiosity and likability of Cleland. But he has something more important: to quote Peter Griffin from the Family Guy, he's got a big sexy brain. He put it to use last night, and produced a speech that was as detailed and specific as I think anyone could have asked for. I had the same impression as Duncan (Atrios), that he tried to keep the crowd from cheering because he had important points to make and it was a serious speech. And I think he did a masterful job at giving people what they have desperately been hoping for - a sense that someone has a grip on how to manage this country.

It's 95 degrees in here...

That means it's about 9pm.

I've observed over the past few days that you can tell the time and the importance of the speaker by the temperature in the hall. When we first got here around 2, it was utterly freezing, and on Monday night I wore a sweater almost all the way to the end.

Tonight, I already feel ready to faint from the heat.

One of the tech guys was griping that all the bloggers smell bad - well, a) you try standing in the middle of thousands of very hot, very excited people and not sweating, and b) I can't smell anything except the McDonald's that is the only edible food in this building. That sweet, greasy smell has permeated everything and in my mind will forever after be associated with the '04 DNC.

(Originally published 7.29.04 on Fly Trap:Convention Edition)

Celebs convince me to vote

Too bad I'm at the DNC - will their message reach those who actually need to hear it?

As the election draws near, a host of organizations have sprung up to convince young people (defined as between 18 and 30) to get out and vote. Somehow, somewhere, someone got the idea that having a celebrity stand up and “sell” voting was a good idea.

The end result is that there are a lot of non-political celebs running around this convention talking their heads off about getting young people to vote. Good for them, say I. The two organizations I talked to today, Smack Down Your Vote and Rock The Vote, attempt to be non-partisan and educationally oriented (although Rock The Vote is a little less successful in this regard). Both organizations attempt to register voters, but Smack Down Your Vote has actually set a goal for a total young voter turnout of 20 million, an increase of 10% on 2000. Whether their strategy of registering people at wrestling matches and then pushing political info at them will be successful remains to be seen.

My writeup of the interviews with Chris Nowinski (aka Chris Harvard) and Allison Munn from That 70's Show is forthcoming.

(Originally published 7.29.04 on Fly Trap:Convention Edition)

Tending the Netroots

The Dems need to give their grassroots organizations some TLC.

Yesterday some bloggers and I sat in on a session organized by the DL21C and 2020 Democrats. Representatives from some 40 or so small liberal grassroots organizations gathered around tables, trading business cards and schwag. The point of the exercise was to discuss how to better organize and coordinate these groups, with an emphasis on using the Internet to connect people together.

As I listened, I realized that a deep divide existed. On one side of our table were extremely tech-savvy netroots organizations like ActBlue, ProgressivePunch.org and Music For America, full of suggestions involving RSS feed and instant two way communication between volunteers and campaigns. On the other side were the more old-school organizations who were focused almost entirely on how to get more feet on the street, and who looked utterly blank at the technical jargon being thrown around. If any progress is to be made on making more efficient use of the Internet, intensive tech support for these more traditional groups is desperately needed.

The most striking thing about this gathering was the amount of duplication of effort and inefficiency of the grassroots approach. Although there are excellent justifications for lots of small independent organizations, there is definitely room for some group to act as an overseeing body, putting similar efforts in touch with each other and getting organizations together to discuss what works and what doesn’t. 2020 Democrats are attempting this, but they will have to seriously step up their efforts if they’re to have any effect by this election - their next conference isn’t until January.

One wonders how many of the smaller organizations will be around come November 5th or so. Unless something is done to bring them together into a coherent grassroots network, the Democrats risk squandering the recent outpouring of energy, effort and dedication that have characterized the 2004 election.

(Originally published 7.29.04 on Fly Trap:Convention Edition)

The Elephant in the Corner (You mean there's a war on?)

One fascinating thing about the convention so far has been the utter lack of mentions of the war in Iraq. Every speaker so far has danced around the fact that there is a war on, and that American people are dying. Clinton, Gore, Hillary, Theresa and just about every other speaker have referred to war only obliquely, as a concept to be condemned rather than a concrete situation that our country is in at the moment.

It seems to have been left to Denns Kucinich to point out the obvious. Jesse at MakeOhioBlue has the text, but it is astonishing that Kucinich will most probably be the only speaker in four days of near-constant speechmaking to refer to what many pundits have called the make-or-break issue of this election.

Why has Kucinich been stuck holding the bag? Why isn't anyone else talking about Iraq? The reaction to his condemnation of the war has been overwhelmingly positive, and according to a delegate from NC I talked to the Kucinich delegates have been treated "like kings".

The Dems may be trying to avoid conflict at the convention, but shying away from Iraq will be interpreted as fearfulness or an admission that they don't have a leg to stand on, regardless of the "America Stronger" mantra.

(Originally published 7.28.04 on Fly Trap:Convention Edition)

Kids Hour (again)

It's becoming a routine. Between 7 and 7.30 every night so far, the Dems have rolled out something, anything, to appeal to kids. Tonight we kicked off with a 21 year old Hispanic girl, followed her with the president of the College Dems, and wound up with an acoustic performance by Wyclef Jean.

I'm sure young people all over America are riveted. Well, at least the ones who are tuned in to C-Span rather than Friends. And I guess most of those will vote for Kerry anyway.

But hey - 90 minutes of the hours and hours of convention time so far have been dedicated to "youth". That says something, but unfortunately it may be the opposite of what the DNC intended.

(Originally published 7.28.04 on Fly Trap:Convention Edition )

Boston Cops Cling to Hannity

The security forces at the convention are supposed to be impartial - but are they?

I was hanging around Hannity's radio booth, trying to get through the crowd and evesdrop on his interview, and doing my best Ann Coulter impression in the hope that he would talk to me by accident (I have the hair, but not the personality). I noticed that there were six cops crowded around the desk, all very interested in Hannity and what he was saying. (You can see pictures of the scene at the Hannity booth in Jeff Stanger's posts down the page).

After a bit of cajoling, the officer next to me admitted that although they were there to "prevent attacks or confrontations", there were more than usual because they "wanted to talk to Hannity", since they "liked him more than the others". Seems like some of Boston's finest are not quite as objective as they're supposed to be.

(Originally published 7.28.04 on Fly Trap:Convention Edition)

Kids Nag for Kerry

Marketing researchers have identified something they call the "nag factor". If you convince a kid that they want something, they'll nag their parents until they buy that Count Chocula cereal or useless fad toy, just to shut them up.

13 year old Ilana Wexler from Oakland, CA has used this to her advantage - last winter, she started Kids for Kerry, a group to get pre-teens involved even before they're old enough to vote. The group urges kids to nag their parents until they vote for Kerry, or at least begin to get interested in politics.

I spoke to Ilana's dad earlier as the savvy young girl was being interviewed by David Letterman. He seemed bewildered by the attention his daughter was getting, and by the random people who were trying to talk to him as a proxy for Ilana herself. However, this is no pushy show parent, driven and eternally critical of their progeny. "She wants to be a teacher when she grows up," he says proudly. "Still not sure what subject yet - she's great at everything."

Comments on the official John Kerry blog attest to her being "ridiculously articulate". Her picture looks like how I always imagined Hermione from Harry Potter, and her website shows the drive and imagination necessary for success at such an ambitious venture. But lest you confuse Ilana with Hillary or Nancy just yet, her father laughs, "We had to take her out this afternoon and run her around so she wouldn't be jittery tonight."

Ron Reagan is speaking now, and the crowd only just calmed down from Barack Obama's electrifying speech - Ilana has a tough act to follow.

UPDATE: Ilana lives up to expectations. Her speech was excellently written and well excecuted - of course she got better as she went along as the crowd roared for her at strategic points. Although her hand gestures were shaky, she pumped her fist in the air at the end of her speech like a pro, walked off to a standing ovation....and buried her face in her father's chest as he gave her a bear hug. She had obviously practiced her speech until she knew it like the back of her hand, but compared to some of the other speakers the past few days, she was a spontaneous breath of fresh air. Good job Ilana. It's a shame the networks aren't broadcasting tonight, because I predict we'll be hearing from her again sometime around 2024.

(Originally published 7.27.04 on Fly Trap:Convention Edition)

It's Kid's Hour! (Too bad they're watching Seinfeld)

It's the "appeal to the kids" half-hour here at the convention.

Yesterday, we had MTV veejays and funky animation on the Jumbotron, along with a twenty-something that is going to Harvard Law School in September. Today, it's happening again - representatives for Kids for Kerry opened the second session of the evening, and spoke urging kids to urge their parents to vote for Kerry. Then it was that cute guy who plays Ryan from the OC, who was surprisingly articulate (and cute. Did I say that already?) Although it was obvious that he was asked to speak because of his cuteness, he used his slot to great advantage and plugged Kerry to the hilt. An energetic and thoroughly enjoyable performance by the City Youth Dance Ensemble would have appealed to anyone who liked "Bring it On".

I cannot stress enough that appealing to kids at conventions will only do any good if it is covered by the networks during primetime or reported in the media. Everyone I know is currently sitting at home watching either Seinfeld on Fox 25 or Friends on the WB, and missing out on this youth spectacle, laid on with a trowel by the DNC. Paul is right - someone's trying to rope in the kids, and just ain't gonna happen so easily.

(Originally published 7.27.04 on Fly Trap:Convention Edition)