* How ironic: The Republicans ceded the back-the-troops high ground to the Democrats. The Dems, of course, took full advantage but couldn’t pull the trigger on saying anything about common-sense gun control.
* Anyone else think some of those “four more years” chants at the Charlotte convention were for Bill Clinton?
* Interesting juxtaposition: While Democratic Party and Obama administration leaders were convening and celebrating in Charlotte, one superstar was notably absent–and stuck doing heavy lifting overseas. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, foreseen by many as the Party’s standard-bearer in 2016, was in Beijing and then Vladivostok negotiating through the geopolitical tension that is the real-world relationship among China, Russia and the United States.
But her presence was still felt in Charlotte. “Like a poltergeist in a pantsuit,” memorably noted New York Times columnist Frank Bruni, she “haunted Charlotte.”
* It’s been noted that “Tampa” was invoked in Charlotte to reference the unflattering GOP convention here. So? That’s not some civic slam. It’s shorthand for the “In GOP We Trust” crowd we hosted. If we had become a synonym for mayhem, we would be a generation in image recovery. And if we had our druthers, we would have hosted the Dems too.
*Showing diversity is always on the network agendas when covering the national political conventions. And, as always, the Republicans make that a challenge once you get away from the podium. According to the Washington Post, only 2 percent of the GOP delegates were “people of color.” But the networks seemed to find them. Not an issue for the Democrats, of course. The networks even located both Sikhs and showed them countless times.
* Given evolving American demographics and politics, could we see a future Rubio-Castro presidential campaign? ¿Por qué no?
* The consensus description of Charlie Crist’s reception at the Democratic Convention was “tepid.” It may prove to be a high-water mark. Florida’s ideology-challenged, former Republican, former governor is a double-edged political sword. Too many Floridians–of both party persuasions–are not impressed. He gives opportunism a bad name. In short, nobody respects a quisling. And Sen. Bill Nelson could have used Charlie’s speaking slot.
Having said that, perhaps Crist could be effective on some out-of-state TV ads where the electorate might favorably perceive him as a consummate pragmatist who saw through his former party’s devolution into Tea Party hell.