The Convention In Brief

Walter Shapiro describes convention week:

...the glory days of smoke-filled rooms, delegates in funny hats, and suspenseful roll-call votes are gone. Conventions are now excuses for both parties to bludgeon the television networks into running four nights of political infomercials... So, in a sense, every reporter in Denver is on the television beat. And the journalistic danger lies in confusing the attitudes of the studio audience (the delegates) with the sentiments of Nielsen families (the voters)."

Mostly on point, but the "delegates in funny hats" are hardly gone. One can dream.

(hat tip: Goddard)