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Amateur Hour at the Fleet Center
What happened when the cameras weren't on.
by Katherine Mangu-Ward
7/31/2004 12:05:00 AM, Volume 009, Issue 45
Boston
AT 4:15 ON MONDAY, July 26, Miss Teen New Mexico takes the stage at the Democratic convention to belt out a stirring rendition of the national anthem to the nearly empty Fleet Center. What it stirs, mainly, is a sense of dread. Looking for my niche in the teeming journalistic ecosystem, I've settled on the quaint concept of ditching the receptions and covering the convention--the parts you don't see on TV. The sessions are gaveled to order each day at 4:00 P.M., and there are hours of events before prime-time coverage begins. Happily, there are almost no other reporters around. Horrifyingly, the festivities quickly reveal themselves to be a hideous hybrid of StarSearch and C-SPAN.
An endless parade of female/minority/swing-state candidates and officeholders step up for their three minutes at the podium. They announce their name, rank, serial number, and why they love John Kerry. Then a giant hook pulls them offstage. Reasons for their devotion to Kerry range from "He's going to make America strong at home and respected abroad" to "We can trust John Kerry with our nation's future."
To entertain myself, I start a tally of the speakers who refer to "the Kerry presidency" in the present tense. But somewhere around 30 I lose count--and interest. There's a reason for the mind-numbingly dull speeches from the Democratic farm team. The Kerry campaign wants it that way. Even reliably spunky Democrats like Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Jesse Jacksons senior and junior seem muted, leading me to suspect that ...
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