Christopher Bedford of the Federalist ponders the absence of reporting about important Democratic Party events that had been scheduled to take place this week.
Monday was the first day of the Democratic National Convention. You might be forgiven for not knowing that, as the news was nowhere. Not in the papers, not on the shows, and not in the morning news letters most of Washington relies on for what to think that day.
The long-planned dates — July 13-17 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — were first moved to Aug. 17-20, then cancelled and turned into some kind of national Zoom meeting, and finally dropped down the memory hole and forgotten faster than it takes Joe Biden to forget what he had for breakfast. There was no daily coverage of this disaster, no countdown to the big day, no masked reporters flitting after the former vice president or his team demanding to know when America might expect the most festive Democratic Party event since Samantha Power invited HBO to her 2016 election party.
Much of the political convention is for show in our modern primary system, although the platform ratification remains somewhat important. And while the exciting imagery of the nomination might have no lasting effect on the election, it’s a favorite of the base, with the party’s most committed activists dressing up for the ruckus on the floor and the busy evenings that follow.
The revelation of the platform for the media and the candidate’s acceptance speech are likely the longest-lasting effects of the week, so it’s no surprise Democrats don’t want a convention — and no surprise corporate media are covering for them. The party has moved farther to the left than any Biden primary supporter might have imagined, and the candidate has mentally deteriorated at a rapid rate too many of us recognize from family experiences.
