The absence of platform pyrotechnics from this year's conventions will undoubtedly disappoint those in search of conflict and uncertainty, but should come as no surprise to anyone who has watched the campaign. Both Bush and Gore dispatched their opposition early and decisively. Each is in full control of his convention. But that hardly means the platforms are irrelevant. Party officials understand that contemporary conventions have as their primary purpose showcasing their presidential ticket and framing the November choice in terms most favorable to their side.
Nothing threatens that objective more than visible signs of conflict and uncertainty.
Bush's compassionate conservatism will be on full display. Speakers will look like America. Education, the well-being of our children and the importance of restoring civility to politics and dignity to government will dominate the messages. No explicit appeals to the ideological base will be allowed to obscure the pitch to moderate swing voters. For his part, Gore is determined that the centrist tenor defining the Democratic Party in the Bill Clinton era is not supplanted by a rancorous scramble by interest groups to assert their positions on divisive issues.