As a communications professional and political junkie, I've been fascinated in watching the trajectories of the two major political parties during this election season. To me it is abundantly clear that the Democrats grabbed the baton and surged ahead when it comes to eloquence, elegance and energy. From Michelle Obama's opening speech through Barrack's closing speech, the Democratic convention was a masterful example of stagecraft and oratorical skills. We saw skillful presentations from those new to the stage to the master of connecting and simplifying Bill Clinton himself. From Hillary's "no way, no how, no McCain" to other other well crafted one liners the Democrats connected with their message and with the story line planned for the convention. This was truly an example of not only a well planned convention but also one that stayed on message and one where the orators shined in their delivery (even without PowerPoint... LOL).
This week I watched the GOP in their quest for yet another four war years and found myself intrigued by the contrasts in delivery, stagecraft and overall feelings that were generated. Granted some of my observations might be based on my own partisan sense of the new direction the country needs to move, but I don't think I'm alone in these observations. The GOP seemed to be on the narrow train with speaker after speaker going after Obama in a very personal and negative manner. VP Elect Palin was a keynoter, who while well received by the convention center audience, came off as extremely negative, disrespectful and shrill as she read her presentation on her teleprompter. She had failed to connect with the broader audience before launching into her negative political attack. Her selection seemed like little but political expediency in McCain's desperate quest for the Presidency.
While George McCain positioned himself as less shrill and derogatory in telling his life and POW story, the damage had been done by Graham, Giulani, Ridge, Thompson, Palin and all the negative speakers that proceeded him. This along with the dissonance between his record and his rhetoric made the McCain speech less than successful in re-positioning his political brand to connect with anyone other than the "red meat" GOP that loved the attacks that Palin spouted throughout her maiden voyage. After his speech I couldn't really name one thing that he would do that would help me as a middle class professional. What I heard and came away from in listening to his speech was that he was a POW and that because of this status he should be honored (rightfully so) and be given the keys to the White House (I don't think so). Somehow this didn't resonate very well with me. I saw him as unable to control his party or to connect with the mainstream of America that is diverse, that is looking for change, that is looking for leadership and is looking for the possibilities of today and tomorrow not the tired old story of the past.
From a presentation perspective, I would give the Obama convention an A and the McCain convention a C- at most, when it came to using their airtime to connect with people and reinforce the story that could lead them to or away from power. Obama owns the position of Change and McCain in trying to co-opt it looked like nothing but a Rovian trying to seem righteous when wrong.
