Harvard's Election 2008 Blog

I didn't get a chance to see too much of the coverage yesterday, as I was traveling to semi-rural Pennsylvania dial-up country for a week or two back home.  At least it will be an interesting vantage point for convention-watching.  Nick has a good list of policy issues to look for (though I noticed it didn't include foreign policy - does Biden have that nailed down already?) but over the next few days it will also be interesting to follow the personal strands of the conventions.  And by that I don't mean selling the candidates as likeable people (though Michelle and the kids seem to have done a great job of that last night); I mean making the case on personal qualities relevant to political style.

The Economist magazine has a nice feature article this week on Obama, praising him for his "essential pragmatism" but pointing out the flip side of that, a "go-along-to-get-along attitude" and a disinclination to rock the boat, even in Chicago's less-than-spotless political machine.  That's understandable, even an asset, in a legislator, but it's tougher to see how that stance would play out in the executive branch.  This week I think Obama needs to subtly but strongly confront the idea that he's, not a flip-flopper (because that connotes more bending to polls than is the case), but a politician constantly currying favor with other legislators.  He needs to overcome the criticism that his general message of change (long a big winner for him) may hide the fact that (as The Economist wrote elsewhere) "he has never exhibited political courage by daring to take on any of his party's powerful interests."  This is true of many politicians, understandably, but one it's certainly not true of is John McCain.  In fact, his role as the Original Maverick is probably the most pithy and coherent message he's had this summer (which is why we saw it ad nauseam during the Olympics).  It's a good line, even if it is a little too close for my taste to Hillary's "experience of change" mantra from the primaries.

Hillary will be another big personal story to watch, especially with her speech this evening, to see what tensions remain on that front.  I'm not imagining that she'll be openly combative on the podium, of course, but it's possible that her support of Obama may sound less than full-throated.  That sort of dissonance is why I think the decision to officially place Hillary's name in nomination for the roll-call vote this evening was very poor strategy, unnecessarily reopening old wounds.  That move, incidentally, was championed by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who of course remains resolute in voicing support of Obama, as reported by our steadily shrinking area newspaper.  And the paper noted another Pennsylvania storyline this evening: Sen. Bob Casey Jr. will speak this evening, reviving memories of how his pro-life father was denied the chance to address the 1992 Convention.

Issues are largely what matter at the end of the day, but there will still be people on the podium this week, and those people are what America watches conventions for.