Science Vs Stupid. A Tale Of Two Conventions

The basic framework for both the Democratic as well as the Republican national conventions was actually laid all the way back in February, although nobody knew it at the time. But one decision made back in February forever changed the basic circumstances from which the logic for all future decisions on both sides woukd be made.

It was back in February that President Donald Trump made a decision to go with stupid over science. The coronavirus was just kicking into high gear, and Trump decided to treat is as a purely political and economic issue, not a public health emergency. Trump  continually minimized the threat and effects of the virus on the country, and even when states started falling like dominoes into lockdown, California, Nevada, New York, Trump refused to take a leadership role in coordinating a national response, and in fact pushed as hard as he could for early re-openings of state economies. His campaign vowed o go full speed ahead towards a large scale, traditional convention.

From the time that Joe Biden became the presumptive nominee, the Biden campaign and the DNC were left with the same circumstances on the ground that the GOP faced, but the Biden campaign lacked the power and authority to try to combat of mitigate the facts on the ground. But while the DNC announced that Milwaukee would be the site for the Democratic convention, it quickly became apparent that there would be a skeletal at best live program from the arena, Biden and the Democrats had chosen public health and safety over glitz and glamour.

Here’s why this is so critical. For more than 4 months now, the Democrats have been proceeding in setting up their convention, and especially Biden’s acceptance speech knowing it would be a virtual convention. As such, once the general outlines of Biden’s acceptance speech were established, the campaign has been able to work on providing the perfect backdrop for the tone and tenor of Biden’s speech. Personally, since I think that Biden will want to use this unique opportunity to connect with as many Americans as possible, I don’t put a stage with a leather chair next to a fireplace out of the realm of possibilities, as with Roosevelt’s fireside chats. The point being that whatever backdrop they choose, it will be a powerful backdrop matching the speech being given in front of it.

Now look at the Republicans. Since day one, they have been maniacally committed to a mass gathering for their nomination, more to soak up Trump’s ravenous ego than for the actual content of the speech. As they say in advertising, Image is everything. That meant the pulling of the convention from Charlotte, where it was originally scheduled, when the Governor wouldn’t give Trump carte blanche to infect even GOP idiots, and take it to Jacksonville, who didn’t care, only to have that fall apart. And now the GOP is ping-ponging back and forth between the south lawn of the White House, and the battlefield at Gettysburg, both of which are ethically and legally problematic.

But you know what? The location the GOP chooses doesn’t matter! Because Trump said goom-bye to a second term when he let the virus get far enough out of hand that is forced the cancellation of the kinds of mass rallies that were Trump’s bloodline. Biden can give a compelling, empathetic speech anywhere, but without a slobbering mob behind him creating a distraction, what Trump ends up sounding like, every goddamn time, is that big mouth asshole at the end of the bar you want to punch out every Friday night. Trump’s poll numbers started tanking when he started giving daily White House briefings, without a freak show in the background to distract from the idiocy of his actual words.

With any luck, we should know who Biden’s Vice President pick is in in the next hour or so, and if that happens, I’m sure I’ll have something to say about it. But for now, as you can see, the fate of the conventions was actually decided back in February, and was cemented when one side chose science, and one side chose stupid. Everything that has played out since then was a result of those decisions.

To know the future, look to the past.before the insanity of the 2020 election, relive the insanity of the 2016 GOP primary campaign, and the general election, to see how we got to where we are. Copies of President Evil, and the sequel, President Evil II, A Clodwork Orange are available as e-books on Amazon, at the links above. Catch up before the upcoming release of the third book in the trilogy, President Evil III: All The Presidents Fen

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