The Two Parties

New York

THE DIFFERENCE is pretty stark. The first night of the Democratic convention in Boston was a carnival of losers. It was dominated by Al Gore and Jimmy Carter, who both gave prominent speeches. The mood was one of studied, celebrated victimhood.

The Republicans have their share of losers, too and on the first night here there are tributes to Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, but they take the form of short, pre-taped video montages. It's an obligatory tip of the hat, but nothing more. Instead, the Republicans are concentrating on their winners, and the two big stars on display are Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, who are the future of the party.

There are other, more significant differences. Democrats emphasized the general notion of "A Stronger America." Republicans are reminding the audience that we are a nation at war.

The crowd in Madison Square Garden waves signs saying "We Salute Our Troops" in big, G.I. Joe, block letters. During a musical interlude, the band Dexter Freebish dedicates a song to America's soldiers. The big banners hanging above the TV studios say "A Nation of Courage" and "Fulfilling America's Promise: A Safer World, A More Hopeful America."

Ron Silver, an actor who was a liberal Democrat before September 11, gives a stirring, serious minded speech about the war. He says explicitly that America is at war with "Islamic extremists"--this plain language would have been inconceivable in Boston. "This is a war we did not seek," he says. "This is a war waged against us. This is a war to which we had to respond." In a flourish worthy of Churchill, he thunders, "We will never forget, we will never forgive, we will never excuse." If the Democrats are the grievance party, the Republicans are the war party.

JOHN McCAIN'S job is to make sure that TV viewers don't see Republicans as a scary, hairy-chested, Neanderthal war party, but instead as a tough, determined, more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger war party. He is effective.

McCain uses searingly clear moral language. "It's a fight between right and wrong, good and evil," he says, talking about war with the Islamists. "Only the most deluded of us could doubt the necessity of this war," he says. And later, "There is no avoiding this war. We tried that, and our reluctance cost us dearly."

His defense of Bush's decision to topple Saddam is sober, saying that "our choice was not between a benign status quo and war. It was between war and a graver threat." He calls Bush's mission "necessary, achievable, and noble."

At two points in the speech McCain goes out of his way to reach out to Democrats. He says that he doesn't doubt the sincerity of Democrats in their commitment to fight terrorism. Later, talking about the election, he says that it is good to "engage in spirited disagreement" but that "we have nothing to fear from each other." "It should remain an argument among friends who share an unshaken belief in our great cause, and in the goodness of each other. . . . We are not enemies, but comrades in a war."

It is stirring stuff. (It's also unthinkable that a Democratic speaker could have said this in Boston; even if he believed it, he would have been booed off the stage.) And it suggests that, for all the talk of base in this election, Team Bush is trawling for undecided voters tonight.

IN BOSTON, the Democrats were clearly bothered by the specter of 9/11. Not quite knowing what to do with it, they had a moment of silence to commemorate it and then went whistling. The Republicans put on a parade of 9/11 widows. Afterwards, they ask not for a moment of silence, but for a moment of "prayer."

THE CONSEQUENCE of these differences is that Republicans are running an atypical campaign for an incumbent party. Instead of sitting back and playing defense, running on the president's record, they're drawing deep contrasts with Kerry, behaving more the way a challenger would. The distinction they are intent on making tonight is that Democrats are the September 10 party, and Republicans at the September 12 party.

Rudy Giuliani's speech etches that contrast into granite.