Laissez les Bons Temps Finir

I spotted him the moment I came out of the elevator. I was in a pack of Republicans in some modern pile of a hotel that fits into this charming but grubby city about as well as the space shuttle, hurrying to a reception we couldn’t quite find. He was shorter than average, and may have been a she. You couldn’t tell because his/her head was totally encased in a dark grey elephant head, complete with a long, curling trunk. I smiled; it waved. My heart leapt up.

Friends ask me if the conventions this year were good. But what do I know from good or bad? To me, every convention is sweet as spring-water, and fine as first love. If you like elephant heads, and elephant floats, and bands, and balloons, and boredom, and bad speeches, you love them. If you don’t, it’s better to have kidney stones.

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

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Presidential Election

I spotted him the moment I came out of the elevator. I was in a pack of Republicans in some modern pile of a hotel that fits into this charming but grubby city about as well as the space shuttle, hurrying to a reception we couldn’t quite find. He was shorter than average, and may have been a she. You couldn’t tell because his/her head was totally encased in a dark grey elephant head, complete with a long, curling trunk. I smiled; it waved. My heart leapt up.

Friends ask me if the conventions this year were good. But what do I know from good or bad? To me, every convention is sweet as spring-water, and fine as first love. If you like elephant heads, and elephant floats, and bands, and balloons, and boredom, and bad speeches, you love them. If you don’t, it’s better to have kidney stones.