I have wondered if anyone else noticed how much the Democratic and Republican conventions were like sporting events. We had everything that is very similar to sports: a home crowd advantage, cheerleaders, musical interludes, effective use of the Jumbotron, and a team that works together to pull off the victory.
Bill Clinton was merely brilliant in a scholarly way, but in such a manner that is not pandering to the intelligentsia nor prohibitive for the common person to comprehend. I found Clinton's oration to be rather Shakespearean, and who better than the Bard to know his audience and change the script to play up to the crowd. Clinton did this masterfully, and in doing so he confirmed his status as one of the most elegant speakers around.
Clint Eastwood became not a laughingstock, as many would try to make us believe, but more of a maverick. It says something about the man that at 82 he can seem like a rebel with a very definitive cause. Some pundits noted he was rambling and off target, but clearly there was more than a method to this madness. If nothing else, it provided a bright moment during the convention and caused me to laugh out loud (which I don't do that much.). I just kept wondering when he would pull out the old .44 and ask the chair, "Do you feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?" That would have made my day.
Article comments
1 - Rich Sackett
Clint Eastwood: laughingstock. Sadly, there's no other realistic way to describe what happened. That is was some sort of brilliant, adept performance art is the height of self-delusion. It was very sad. Nobody won that one.