Joe-Mentum!

So, the Republican convention is underway, and it has a totally different feel than the Democrats. It seems to be seriously lacking in the energy that we saw last week (although that could be reversed tonight, because that whole building is just dying to love Sarah Palin, and if she delivers they will completely explode.)

I have a couple of theories.

1) The Hurricane has everyone out of sorts. The convention didn't start on time, the agenda has changed, and no one really knows whether they should be totally celebrating or not.

2) The building is half empty. Seriously...Democrats have twice as many delegates as Republicans, and the GOP should consider upping their number to get some more energy into the place. The number is arbitrary...hike it.

3) The speakers...ugh. Fred Thompsen was pretty good, although the power was in the story, not in the delivery. Bush is just Bush...we have all seen that movie before. Lieberman was, well, he is what he is, too. And what is he? BORING! He did OK with his stuff about what a great guy McCain is, but how many times can he repeat "We are not Republicans or Democrats, we are Americans!" Like...I dunno...30? He would have been much better if he had just said "You all know I am ruining my career to do this, right? Well, I have known that from the beginning of this campaign, and that is how strongly I feel about it."

I am a little confused about the talk today of Lieberman's "criticism" of Obama and whether it was "over the line." Are we serious? He barely mentioned him, and when he did, it was with praise for his intelligence, eloquence and potential, followed by "but, I don't think he is ready just yet." That counts as "over the line"? Well...then I have really bad news for you, because there is a LOT worse than that coming...

All in all, not a real good night for McCain, I don't think. Just not that exciting.

Tonight will have a lot more energy, no doubt. And way more viewers. This is Sarah Palin's big night, and the party is clearly absolutely fired up for that. She has managed to do for McCain what the first 16 months of this campaign have not...really energized evangelicals, hardcore catholics, gun owners and pro-lifers. There has been a ton of talk about the fracture in the Democratic party, but the Republicans are also far from a united front, and she has done an enormous amount to fix that already (and, more importantly, to get them to open their checkbooks.)

In closing, I want to leave you with one thought. I have found myself focusing a lot on how the media treats Republicans and Democrats differently (I could write a very long post on this someday...in short, Democrats are usually treated as idealistic, weak-willed sissies and Republicans are treated as insensitive, heartless wealth mongers).

So, I would like to point to a quote that was on the front page of the New York Times yesterday. The Times, of course, is the great bastion of liberalism and has long been a leading voice for left-wing economics and politics and liberal social causes. Included in this would, of course, be the women's movement. So, I was a little surprised to see the Times note that she is attempting to be a mother and a Vice President, and then asking "Is she right to try?"

Never mind the obvious...that there have been BOATLOADS of male politicians with small children. Including a particular Senator from Illinois with two kids under age 10. And no one would ever dream of asking whether or not he was "right to want to be a father and a President." We all know there is a double standard...blah blah blah.

My question is not how would the New York Times have handled this if Sarah Palin was a man...my question is "How would they have handled it if she was a Democrat?"