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Why Conventions Matter

By Daniel Colarusso

It's easy to be cynical about political conventions. After all, they're basically infomercials at this point with no real work being done. It's four nights of marketing and message blasting, paid for by corporate donations and taxpayers and campaign contributions.

For the journalists and party officials it's basically a giant party. I got to Denver last night, too late for Dave Matthews at Red Rocks and too tired for the Friends of New Orleans bash so i got a quick bite in the lobby of my hotel with my Portfolio colleague, Andrea Chalupa and a somewhat intoxicated member of congress who shall remain nameless. We were surrounded by journalists and pols I see all the time back in Washington.

And yet.....things do go on here. Things that matter. For the campaigns, of course, it's a chance to speak to the American people with less of the media filter--despite the presence of thousands of journalists. After all, most Americans haven't sat through an entire Barack Obama speech. Even with the broadcast networks cutting their coverage to an hour a night, it's still a chance for lots of people to be introduced to the party and its leaders. It's their first measure of the man.

It's also the chance for the nominee to show he's put his stamp on the party. In 1992, Bill Clinton used his coronation at Madison Square garden to show he'd moved his party to the center while keeping it true to its past. Three keynote speakers--Bill Bradley, Zell Miller (before he moved dramatically to the right) and the late Barbara Jordan--electrified the hall and the image of Clinton and Gore together offered tremendous promise.

In 2000, the Rovian spectacle of lots of minorities at the podium signaled that Bush would try to be a compassionate conservative. It may all seem like so much hokum but it at least showed what the candidates wanted their party to be.

And so Obama will try to show that he connects with voters and shares their values. He doesn't need to do a lot of convincing that the country needs a change. But he needs to show that he's the right change. Tonight's speech by Michelle Obama is going to be the first big test of that and it's going to be fun to watch.

Throughout the week we'll bring you reports from the convention about what's going on here, how it relates to business, and talk with some of the players. It's an infomerical, yes, but there are interesting things here and we promise to try and bring it to you.

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Full post as published by Portfolio.com: Capital on August 25, 2008 (boomark / email).