Evening star., 1952-07-14
Traditional Hoopla
TOGO on al Convention.
Despite Revealing NI
By Jones Morrow
Assoeioied Press Stuff Writer

the f1rSt coaSt-to-coaSt televiSed
convention. they were guinea pigs
for the Democrats who had a team
Of mistake finders watching TV
screens in Chicago. taking notes.
So at least in technical way
for instance. camera shots of the
epeakers-televising Of the Demo-
cratic convention which opens
next Monday should be a little
smoother than the Republican.
But in a technical way only.
Conventions have followed the
same pattern for generations
some parts serious, some boring,
some old fashioned. and some full
Of hokum and fantaSy-and the
politicians who run them cling
to tradition like q hungry man to
Q jug Of jam.
No Changes Likely.
For this reason it would be ask
ing too much of either party to
make radical changes this year
just because for the first time
the Nation had TV box seat
and an opportunity to see polite
ians perform, some times at their
worst.
The starting time is good ex-
ample of convention habits. The
delegates themselves don't take
the chairman seriously when he
says the next session will begin
at 1880 am. or 8 pm. They know
from experience it will be later.
So they arrive later.
And no matter how many ses-
sions in a convention, each must
have identical preliminaries which
consume another half-hour be-
fore the delegates can get down
to business: A band plays the Star
Spangled Banner, the delegates
pledge allegiance to the Flag, a
new clergyman each time says
prayer. and some talented singers
pour out their high-priced notes
over the heads Of the delegates
too busy talking to hear them.
"The Man Who" Fantasy.
It might seem that if all this
were done once, at the beginning
of the first session, it would be
enough to last the whole conven-
ton. But it's when "the-man-
who" nominating speeches begin
that American politicians suddenly
seem bewitched and the conven-
,tion itself wanders off into the
fields of fantasy.
BY the time the nominating
speeches have been reached, the
delegates already have pretty well
made up their minds about the
candidates whose names and his
tories they know and whose hands
they have probably shaken not
once but often. It's too late now
for oratory to- change their emo
tions or intentions.
And they've known for days or
weeks that Senator Locusfocus
has been chosen to nominate can
didate so-and-so. So-and-so
himself hasn't made any mystery
of wanting the nomination. He's
been campaigning for months.
Nevertheless. like the bearer Of
wonderful but secret tidings, Sen
ator LocusfocuS spends IS min
utes-before mentioning the name
of so-and-so-with a series Of
statements that 60 like this: "The
man I nominate is a man
who
Becomes Life History.
It winds up being life history
Finally. in the last explosive SEN
tence, almost choked with enthu-
siasm, he gives out with the name
Of so-and-so.
Mentioning the name pulls the
trigger which releases the pent-ur
frenzy of so-and-so's worshippers
(more or less), sending them
screaming and jogging around the
floor in what, to a social scientist
from Mars. might look like a
primitive tribal dance. or. If he got
around enough, like a New Or
leans Mardi GraS.
OF course, if Senator Locusfocus
ever slipped and started his speech
with so-and-so's name, he'd never
finish it. thus losing Is minutes of
talking time, because the mob on
the floor would think the name
was the signal to start the hoopla,
being more interested In the signal