Convention Ramblings

Since I was away all week, I wasn't as tuned in to the Convention as I would have been had I been home.  But I did listen to it when I was driving around in the evenings, and I watched all the 10 p.m. speeches.  (One of my projects for today is to find an online archive of Senator Barack Obama's heraded entry onto the national scene.)  And I spent most of my long drive home yesterday listening to the post-mortems.

I had already decided on my vote last spring.  Our President's eagerness to engage us in a protracted war against a people of whom we know nothing is dismaying, to put it mildly.  I have no doubt that Osama bin Laden and his ilk wish us ill; they've demonstrated that clearly enough over the past decade.  But the recklessness and obliqueness with which we have moved against them is senseless.

On the domestic front, the President lost me completely when he began to push the marriage amendment to the Constituion.  I was appalled by his mean-spirited and hurtful attack against fellow citizens who would like to formalize a fundamental human relationship.  I was astonished by his attempt to use our Constitution to do it.  And I remain confused as to just how a gay marriage threatens my own.  I keep waiting for all those gay people to show up on my doorstep to urge me to get divorced. 

So I was already with the Democrats, and am relieved that the Convention went off so well.  Senator Clinton, President Clinton, Mrs. Heinz Kerry, Mrs. Edwards, Senator Edwards -- all gave speeches that ranged from just fine to dynamic.  I do wish that our nominee had followed the Gettysburg Address formula bit more closely, but I guess that's too much to ask in this media-controlled era.  What would the pundits have talked about with each other if Senator Kerry had limited his speech to a profound and focused 10 minutes or so? 

I was moved by the presence of his fellow veterans, but am ready to learn about why they support his bid for the presidency.  Now that we know that "Help Is On The Way," I would like to hear a lot more about what Kerry has been doing in the Senate for the last 20 years to justify my vote.  Let's get to the specifics, Senator.