A Tale of Two Conventions

[jaxx]

A Tale of Two Conventions
The nation is deeply divided, but the gatherings in Charlotte and Tampa show how starkly dissimilar the Democratic and Republican visions of the American experience are.

—By David Corn
| Thu Sep. 6, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

Not too far from the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, a local art gallery is featuring an exhibit called "Divided State of America," but it's not necessary to trek to this space to contemplate the deep divisions within the nation. You need only spend a few nanoseconds at the Democratic presidential convention, after experiencing a week at the Republican gathering in Tampa, to realize you have left one reality for a much different one. And this goes far beyond policy positions and political stances.

<..> The people. It's rather obvious: Planet Democrat is inhabited by people of different colors; Planet Republican is monochromatic. This stark contrast has long existed and is not a surprise. (One recent poll showed Mitt Romney with zero—yes, zero—support among African Americans.) Yet shifting from Tampa to Charlotte is not unlike the moment in The Wizard of Oz when black-and-white gives way to the full spectrum. In Tampa, it seemed there were more black and Hispanic Americans on the stage than among the audience of thousands of white people. The streets of downtown Charlotte—which, for some reason, is called "uptown"—are overflowing with diversity.

<..> The street. Tampa was an antiseptic affair. The arena was in a security area that resembled a Green Zone. Delegates were bussed in, then bussed out. With scant interaction between the convention and the rest of the world, no sense of community was created. It was as if the GOP delegates were suburbanites—or exurbanites—commuting to and from their place of business, zipping past the locals and their neighborhoods. In Charlotte, the delegates and others have flooded the downtown area, walking from one event to another, interacting with one another, the residents of the city who have flocked to the city's center, and even the street-corner anti-abortion protesters. There's a vibrancy that embodies the best values of community and urban life.

<..> The ladies. In Tampa, Ann Romney had a double challenge. As the Romney campaign's emissary to women, she first had to convince women voters that though she hails from the highest rungs she still understands the economic difficulties they confront daily, and then she had to persuade them that because Mitt Romney is a swell guy (who once safely walked her home from a high school dance!) he deserves their support. In her speech to the Democrats, Michelle Obama didn't have to plead a case; she only had to tell her story. Her connection to working women and struggling families is based on her own past; it has a more authentic foundation.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012...-charlotte

One happy crowd, one mad crowd.

[Treestar]

I like the part about people mingling in the town. While the Rs just stayed for the convention and then left like corporate employees. That sums it up pretty well.