Goodbye DNC!!

I have to take a moment to express my happiness that the DNC has left Denver. Leaning the other way politically, it's already tough enough to deal with the litany of bumper stickers spouting left-wing paraphernalia from the back of the many 10+ year-old Suburu Outbacks you'll find here without having to co-exist with a convention celebrating the most extreme version of left-wing politics.

Though I had to put that obligatory dig in, my beef with the DNC probably had as much to do with my dislike for big events that aren't nearly as entertaining as they might be made out to be. For example, while everyone else seemed to enjoy the Winter Olympics' arrival in Utah, I fled the state since half of my apartment complex's available parking was appropriated by the ever-popular women's' ice hockey venue nearby. So, although I seem to be in the minority here, I was more than happy to stay as far away from downtown as possible during last week's festivities.

I find conventions to be a curious thing. Even though the biggest non-story of the primaries almost (but not really) happened with the near roll call vote to appease Hillaryland out there, the conventions never serve the purpose that they traditionally had--to elect the party's candidate. Instead, you get a few days of ego-stroking, glad-handing, and general schmoozing as people who are already way too excited about politics work themselves into a frenzy of extremely way too excitedness. I guess I could see some value in a trickle-down effect of some sort where these extremely way too excited folk get sufficiently pumped up to motivate some of the more apathetic of our populace, but I'm not sure that actually happens.

We'll see how the RNC pans out. I think that if they had any guts they'd bag the whole thing and tell everyone who bought a ticket to Minnesota to head down to New Orleans to start cleaning up. Apart from being a much more noble way of spending time and money, can you argue with the political capital they'd gain from that kind of service-minded, "let's forget all this crap and just get to work" mentality that would show? Nominating a woman was probably about as extreme as the Republicans are willing to get this year, though.

Speaking of which, I have to say that was a gutsy move. I'm impressed. Palin seems like a strong-minded individual and a good check against Obama. I'm not sure what her presence will actually be worth in the long run, but if McCain represents the establishment with his long tenure in the Senate and Obama is running as the fresh-faced voice of change, then Palin's as good a counterpart as any. I'm eager to learn a bit more about her.

WARNING: NERDISH REFERENCE FORTHCOMING

At a glance, Palin slightly resembles Mary McDowell (Dances with Wolves's Stands with a Fist) who plays the inexperienced-cabinet-member-who's-forced-to-assume-the-presidency-after-disaster-strikes in TV's Battlestar Galactica. Scary analogy, there, for those of you who know the show (Good first season that went downhill shortly thereafter, by the way, sort of a-la Friday Night Lights). Let's hope that her career doesn't go the same way, not because she wouldn't do a good enough job, but because that would mean something terrible happened.