I really don't get the two-hour speeches. Donald Trump is the leading example, but the primary campaign had a lot of it, candidate John or Jane Doe showing up and yammering away for an hour or more, on and on and on, punctuated by cheers suited to a high school basketball championship.
American politicians used to have a stump speech as smoothly polished and quick as a standup comedian's best act. They'd stand up, promise every chicken would get an indoor potty and no car would sit weeping at the curb for want of a garage or some damn thing, talk about their wonderful record as an office-holder, spouse/parent and/or in military service, thank you in advance for your vote, and be back on the train out of town in under fifteen minutes. The Ladies Civic League and their long-suffering partners would be taking down the red, white and blue bunting before the candidate had cleared the city limits.
These days, major campaign appearances are like a Grateful Dead concert, though minus the mellowness and (usually) the more experimental substances. I keep looking at news coverage and wondering if these people aren't maybe a little old to be painting their faces and wearing handmade jewelry of questionable taste -- and that's just the "stodgy conservative" party. It's as if the boosters all saw the "Mad Max" films and thought they were travel ads: "Yes, let's move there!" (This kind of irrational exuberance used to be reserved for party conventions, and carefully controlled even there. Now, not so much.)
It's probably not a good idea to hold your breath while waiting for louder segments of the gen. pop. to finish growing up.
You bring back memories, Roberta. As a too-young-to-vote person (who first became eligible to vote at age 21 in 1959) the only politicians that I saw in person were Pres Harry Truman (my mother insisted that our family help welcome him and Bess home when they left the White House) and City Councilman of Kansas City MO, Donald Thomson (whose daughter invited her sister majorettes to a slumber party). Neither gave a speech as neither was running for office when I saw him. However, I do recall reading about "whistle stop" speeches and how short the stops were. I also read about smoke-filled back rooms.
ReplyDeleteApologies. The last comment was from me, Cop Car.
ReplyDeleteI don't get bringing sports-fan mentality to politics. I mean...they're politicians. Excitement is the last thing I want.
ReplyDeleteIt's been noted that the former President kinda blew it at the Convention. Instead of giving a nice, concise speech right after Hulk Hogan gave him an intro, he let his son spout political boilerplate, then took the podium after 10pm for a couple hours of listening to his own voice and reveling in the cheers of his supporters.
ReplyDeleteMost of his campaigning seems to be more about getting turned on by his crowds of supporters and less about trying to appeal to the rest of the country.