The Couch Potato Chronicles - Notes On The Democratic Convention

Canadians like me, who grew up in border towns, (Fort Erie), have a special relationship with the United States.
All the television we got back in the fifties and sixties were the American networks. We did most of our shopping and hanging out in Buffalo, because when I was a kid the Canadian dollar was worth more than the American.
I even remember that we were all let out of school on the days both John F Kennedy and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. I guess you could call us honorary Americans.
Even after I left Fort Erie and ultimately ended up in Toronto, I maintained a strong interest in the things that went on down there, sometimes to the exclusion of what was going on in my own country.
Over the years, I developed a political identity, and that’s one of a Liberal in Canada and a Democrat in the US. And one of the things I enjoy most about the political process down there is just how long it goes on and how incredibly ornate it all is.
So, being an honorary Democrat, here are some of my observations from the Democratic National Convention, which was held in Philadelphia this week, and which nominated Hillary Clinton as their candidate for President.
My shorter review of the Republican National Convention is available here:
https://www.bebee.com/producer/@jim-murray/the-couch-potato-chronicles-friday-triple-play

Overall this DNC was designed to counter perceived negatives about Hillary Clinton, to showcase both her experience and her humanity and to contrast her cool-headed ability to handle the rigours of the job with the inexperience and well known bigotry, short attention span and thin skin of her opponent.
So from that perspective, this convention was a masterpiece of planning and execution. And for people like MrsMur and myself it was great prime time TV too.

The DNC As Seen From My La-Z-Boy Recliner

This week was very hot and very muggy in Toronto. Not the kind of weather you want to be outside in. And, of course, it’s July so there’s next to nothing on TV. So we did a little binge viewing of a different colour this week...to wit…The Democratic National Convention.

OPENING NIGHT:

We started watching at dinner and stuck with it the whole way, just taking breaks to check out other news and the ball game. (Jays won).
The opening night started with a series of three and four minute speeches covering a lot of different reasons why different people are supporting Hillary Clinton, the pantsuit lady, in her bid for the presidency.
The big three on the opening night were Elizabeth Warren who is the biggest thorn in Donald Trump’s side, first lady Michelle Obama, who blew everybody away with her non-plagiarized speech, and finally, Bernie Sanders whose speech is designed to get all his supporters over to the Clinton side.

But honestly, the night belonged to New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who literally brought the house down with his speech. We were completely  mesmerized, only speaking occasionally and then just in one word expletives like ‘whoa’ and ‘alright’, then ‘whoa’ again.
This man truly embodies the passion the Democrats have that the Republicans don’t. His speech was literate and poetic and had everybody on their feet and clapping and crying.
Even Bill Clinton was nodding and clapping and wide eyed, thinking, ‘This guy’s really got his mojo working tonight.’
All in all it was fascinating to watch and a bit sad because, a lot of the people who dislike Hillary Clinton don’t really know why.
But her story got told tonight. And it was one of someone who is going to be hard for anyone like Donald Trump to beat, especially since Bernie Sanders did an amazing job and probably salvaged the election in his speech. Great TV. Probably even better if you were there.

NIGHT TWO:

This was the Bill Clinton Show. His keynote speech was kind of like what I imagine people gathered around the radio to hear back in the days of Will Rogers. This guy has charm, charisma and the absolute adulation of his audience.He is the godfather of the Democratic party these days.
Since his retirement from politics 20 years ago, Clinton has been one of those people who you always go out of your way to see, whether it’s on a late night talk show or at the Democratic Convention in 2008 when Hillary was running against Obama. He basically got up and decimated the Republican’s platform and he did it in a way that kept you smiling.
Tonight's speech masterfully told the tale of his relationship with Hillary from the time they first met right up to the present. And through that storytelling, he made an incredibly strong case for his wife’s capability to run the country. He took a few shots at Trump, and skillfully managed to reposition him in the eyes of the millions of undecided voters out there, I hope.

NIGHT THREE:

Whoever invited Michael Bloomberg, a well known Independent and ten times the billionaire that Trump will ever be, to speak at the DNC tonight should be given a trip to Hawaii when the convention wraps up.
In a single 10 minute speech, he objectively and believably eviscerated Trump. His speech played directly to the great mass of people out there who are independent and or undecided and pointed out very clearly that electing Trump would be the worst thing the country could do and why.
Bloomberg carries a lot of weight in America, because he is a true self-made billionaire who for 12 years served as Mayor of New York City, so he knows the character of both candidates very well. It was a pretty amazing speech frm a true independent.
The rest of the stuff was great too: Current VP, Joe Biden, VP choice Tim Kaine and the big Kahuna, Barack Obama.
But every night, somebody steals the show and tonight it was Mr Bloomberg, who even went so far as to infer very strongly that Trump was actually insane. Pretty cool.

CLOSING NIGHT:

In addition to Chelsea Clinton introducing her mom and letting people know, in no uncertain terms, how terrific she was as a mom and as a teacher of life lessons, Chelsea stood up there and proved what kind of human being she was and explained without sounding at all egotistical, that she got to be that way because she was brought up with love and caring.
Then of course, there was Hillary, who gave one of the best speeches I have ever seen from her. The best thing about this particular speech was the tone and manner of her delivery. When she was giving speeches during the primary, her tone was almost harsh. Everything felt like a pronouncement, and I could really see how that would affect her likeability.
But tonight, her tone was generally much more accessible and right in keeping with the overall tone of the convention. She knew she had to come across as more ‘human’ and she really did. She also took some of the best shots at Trump that anyone has taken so far. So I can safely say that I’m pretty sure she achieved her objective with this speech.
The other thing that was really interesting was a pair of Republican politicians who spoke. They both spoke very briefly in support of Hillary, citing the simple fact that they felt that Donald Trump’s nomination made the Republican party, to them at least, completely unrecognizable.
They never talked about becoming Democrats. This was not about anything partisan. It was strictly about who was best qualified to be president based on the choices available.
I’ve been following US politics since LBJ’s time and have honestly never seen anything like that. It’s a very very strange world these days, especially in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The Couch Potato Chronicles is a column I am planning to publish every Friday (workload permitting) here on beBee. In it I will review, in a rather opinionated way, a number of things: books, movies, sports, TV, events and anything else I think you might find interesting.
As usual all likes, comments and shares are appreciated. Have a great weekend everybody.

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