Saturday morning thoughts

Almost home.

I wanted to lay out the themes of the convention - which were very evident, repeated in nearly every speech - but my notes are, apparently, in the suitcase which, by now, is pure chaos.  So I'll do that tonight.

Meanwhile:  I wrote about political hierarchy, and the more I looked, the more I saw it.  Thursday night's speech was moved to a much smaller venue, for good reason:  I got soaked late in the afternoon and it rained later on, too.  I know that politics can be the art of distraction and misdirection, but there were no hidden agendas regarding the move:   it rained every day in Charlotte this week, including Thursday.

But the move meant that a seat at the event became a very rare and valuable thing.  When I got to the arena that night, I discovered those "reserved" signs on most of the chairs in the NY section.  They were for all the NY Democratic dignitaries (mostly non-delegates) who had come down to see the speech.  We lower ranking not-so-dignified delegates ended up sitting in the Alabama section next door, where I sat next to a journalist from Virgina.  Go figure.

There was also a hierarchy of dress, at least among men (women's fashion is way beyond me).  You start with the guys with Hawaiian shirts, or polo shirts, and khakis or shorts (hardly any jeans at all).  Then you might add movement or issue t-shirts, mostly involving unions.  Then the button down shirts without ties, and then my category, the button-down shirts with ties.

Then there were the suits - black, or so dark you can't tell the difference.  It was hot in Charlotte, and it rained.  Wearing a dark suit with a jacket meant your were going to be uncomfortable.  I wore a sports jacket (with my Otsego County pin!) the first night, and it was a mistake I did not repeat.  So those suits were important symbols to the wearers, who were willing to make certain sacrifices to be seen in them.  The suit guys were in three categories:  young guys, who I thought were probably interns; older guys, who were aides and functionaries, and even older guys, who were the luminaries (Congressmen, Senators, House Speakers, Governor, etc.).  I wonder if it's worth it?

Anyway, one of the themes of the convention, which I'll lay out later, was "We're all in this together," or, as was posted on the stage backdrop, "Better Together."  Here's an interesting essay about this.

See you soon.