Andy, everything is safe and scripted and very, very propagandistic. Think Beijing Olympics. There is no spontaneity — spontaneity is terrifying at a modern convention. I so admired Dan Quayle for refusing to submit his speech to the convention authorities in 1996. (I’m pretty sure that was the year.) He said, “I’m a former vice president, and I’ll give the speech I’ll give.” They (the authorities) relented.
There is no drama here, really — except for the drama of nominating the first black nominee, which is, of course, not nothing.
But we do not have a 1976 or a 1968 — nothing like that. And the primary season is over very, very quickly. When did the Republican nomination wrap up? February? That’s one reason a lot of us sort of liked the Democratic primaries — at least they went on. It wasn’t slam, bam, thank you, ma’am.