Democrats’ virtual convention is virtually unwatchable | Mulshine

Perhaps it’s just me, but as I’m watching those videos that are substituting for a real political convention I keep expecting the speaker to look into the camera and announce “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”

It’s hard to take a convention seriously when it’s not a convention, which the dictionary defines as “an assembly of persons met for a common purpose.”

Perhaps there was no practical way for the Democratic National Committee to convene thousands of delegates and hangers-on during the current pandemic. But deprived of the excitement of an audience, the various speakers look like they’re performing in commercials.

The commercial I’m most reminded of was the one for “Crazy Eddie” Antar, that North Jersey appliance salesman who was represented by an actor who would wave his arms wildly as he screamed “My prices are INSANE!”

I saw the “Crazy Eddie” arm gestures appear quite a few times among the Democratic operatives straining to express their admiration for the ticket. That kind of emotional outburst only works when you’ve got an audience.

Ratings shows network viewership is down about 40 percent from the 2016 event. It’s not hard to see why.

Joe Biden locked up the nomination way back in March. The only remaining drama was his choice of a running mate, and Biden might have been wise to save that for the convention itself.

Instead he chose California Senator Kamala Harris last week. That drained whatever drama this convention might have had.

The only appearance that offered any hope was that of former President Bill Clinton Tuesday night. Whatever you think of his politics, Clinton has been the sharpest politician and most eloquent speaker on the political scene.

I had thought he might deliver what his party so desperately needs – a “Sister Souljah moment,” which is defined as “a key moment when the candidate takes what at least appears to be a bold stand against certain extremes within their party.”

In June 1992, Clinton went before Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition and criticized the rapper/author (and Rutgers grad) for her remarks on the Rodney King riots.

In a Washington Post interview the month before, she said, “I mean, if black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?”

Clinton told the crowd, “If you took the words ‘white’ and ‘black,’ and you reversed them, you might think David Duke was giving that speech.”

That outraged the Democratic base. But the base had nowhere to go. Meanwhile the move helped Clinton win the support from moderates that led to his victory over George H.W. Bush the following November.

The rioting going on today in America is similar, right down to the spectacle of a driver getting pulled out of a truck by a mob and being beaten nearly to death, as happened in Portland, Ore., the other day.

Clinton could have used his five minutes to once again make a play for the moderate vote by distinguishing peaceful demonstrations from vandalism and destruction of property. Instead he looked tired as he repeated some rote anti-Trump rhetoric.

Trump has made it clear he intends to exploit this issue. In a campaign stop in Minnesota Monday, the president brought up recent riots there and said of the Democrats, “Their sympathies lie with lawbreakers and with criminals. My heart is with law-abiding, hardworking Americans.”

The old Bill Clinton would have found a way to make a law-and-order pitch to outflank Trump. At a young age, Clinton had to develop powerful skills for appealing to moderate and middle-class voters.

Such skills are sorely missing at this convention. I suspect one reason is the lack of an audience.

At prior conventions, the cameras would focus on an audience of average Americans who just happened to become delegates, the sort of people you could “have a beer with,” as the saying goes.

But now, deprived of a live audience, the viewer has to view a lot of politicians competing to polish their resumes for future runs of their own.

I wonder how many viewers were excited to see a Wednesday night lineup that included Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Rep. Cindy Axne of Iowa and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Meanwhile Trump is planning to give featured slots to that St. Louis couple who face charges after they displayed guns as a pack of protesters marched past their house.

“They were going to be beat up badly, if they were lucky. OK? If they were lucky,” Trump said of the incident. “They were going to be beat up badly and the house was going to be totally ransacked.”

Were they? I have no idea.

But whatever their story, it has to make for more compelling television than the show the Democrats are putting on.