Abstract

The Real Story in Boston

The article discusses little known details of the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Mass. There are, first of all, the delegates, who this year are virtually all voting the way they are told to vote (and for the most part want to vote, because they want to beat Bush). Then there are the 15,000 mainstream journalists who outnumber the delegates three to one, who are, as the phrase goes, stenographers to power. Both these groups are partakers of the conventional convention wisdom: that because polls show Kerry does better among those who know him, the goal of this convention is to tell his story. Next are the sponsors--Union Pacific, MassMutual, Edison International, BellSouth and all the rest, including the liquor and food companies--who pay for the countless receptions, at which delegates and the press consume gallons of booze and tons of sumptuous hors d'oeuvres as they talk to one another about the evil influence of big money on politics. And finally there are the dissenters, and they are where they are--at the center of what should be the debate but on the fringes of the convention. And finally, there was the convention outside the convention--in the streets and in various venues around town.