If the story is about demonstrators, then the Democrats have wasted an opportunity to present Al Gore in a positive light. That is the scenario everyone is working to avoid. Gore campaign chairman Bill Daley has said that the selection of a running mate, the convention and debate will bring Democrats home in time for the general election. But as late as June a poll from Harvard University s Joan Shorenstein Center showed that about 70 percent of voters still were paying little or no attention to the battle for the presidency. No wonder, with so little mystery left to sustain excitement in the campaign.
People are tired of the same old things, of things that are scripted, the sense of predictability.
The convention is basically an infomercial. He predicts that people will be more drawn to the action outside Staples Center than to what is going on at the convention podium. People are somewhat voyeuristic by nature. People love a car chase. It used to be that this city had a connotation of high drama instead of ho-hum.