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This is a “historic” convention. That may be true for all the reasons we know so far. A historic candidacy, an energized grass roots of the party and so on. But it may be the most interesting event if it can maintain the aura of new approaches, and new politics, all of which have been drummed into us for months and weeks. It is historic in a different sense as well. Unlike past elections, there is now an “echo” chamber on the left, a rather concerted array of blogs, web sites and even some television shows (and perhaps networks) aligned to chime in at the right time. If all that works, it could well change the dynamic of this convention and indeed this election. In the past several years, the right has succeeded in orchestrating a marvelous coordination between their talking heads, op-ed writers, some web sites and think tanks to raise the level of suspicion of candidates on the other side. We saw John Kerry reduced to his own caricature as they exploited his best assets and made them look like liabilities. You have to give it to the Right. They are champions in creating large dust clouds, coordinating attacks and performing to the beat of talking points. It is a machine with few parallels and is one of the most salient achievements of the media age. The left lacks this coordination, this ability to dance to the same rhythm and the energy or trust to jump on the same things at the same time. May be things are changing. They have been successful and the so called Obamites are very passionate. We will see how all this unfolds. A new book titled Obama Nation by Jerome Corsi, the right wing hack who swift-boated John Kerry in 2004 elections is now out. It is already a best seller. It will take much to repel that attack. For us, spectators, it will be curious to see how the Democrats counter-attack. Forget the politics of reconciliation and all that goofy stuff. This is politics and it is dirty. The one who comes out on top is called victor and no one bothers about the stench around his victory. |