I was not prepared yesterday to get so interested in the Democratic National Convention. I don't recall watching any of these with any intensity once we passed the stage where the nominees were in doubt before the gathering. Once that variable was eliminated, conventions basically became infomercials and very predictable. Even the speeches by folks I agreed with lacked a certain sincerity and spontaneity. But that roll call really impressed me, in part because I'm the kind of guy who watches television and is often more interested in how they did it than what they did.
That show was live — no edits, no retakes, a thousand possibilities for something to go wrong…and they pulled it off, taking what would ordinarily be a boring ritual and turning it into a moment of genuine television excitement. And then some — not all but some — of the speeches that followed were just plain good, gripping speeches. Betcha next time we have political conventions in this country, both sides study tapes of DNC 2024 and say, "Okay, this is what we have to top."
In case you missed the roll call, here's a link to watch it. It runs an hour-twenty and I couldn't turn away. The sense of happiness and excitement and the mix of career politicians and folks just workin' for a cause was stunning to me. I'm going to try not to watch much today because I have work to do but I'm not going to miss Pete Buttigieg or Bill Clinton…and I think Tim Walz, who's also turning out to be a helluva speaker, are on the schedule. So I'll probably end up watching more than I want.