Post Convention Stress Disorder

By Anne T. Garcia

Are your eyes glazed over, after two weeks of political conventions? Do you click on the Drudge Report and reach for the TV remote, even before you grab your first cup of coffee? Well, you may be suffering from post convention stress disorder. The bad news is it's going to get worse. The good news is, like most viruses, it is self limited. It will disappear Nov. 4. Going into the Democratic Convention, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's nomination was a done deal. The whole week played out with panache. U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech was especially gracious and former President Bill Clinton seemed to be very proud of her.

According to Democratic strategist James Carville, the first night was "wasted" by not going after the Republicans. That turned out to be OK, because the first night of the Republican convention was cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav. The polls showed the Dems got a dip, not a bounce, from the nomination of U.S. Sen. Joe Biden for the number two slot. Was that a portent of things to come? Recall that Mr. Biden had received only 2 percent of the votes in the Iowa primary, not exactly a ringing endorsement from the heartland. Last year he was on record as having insulted Indian Americans (Americans from the nation of India). His loose lips also told Floridians, during the Republican Convention, the Democratic team would consider filing a lawsuit against President George W. Bush if they were elected.

The high point of the convention for me was when Sen. Obama's little daughter took the microphone from her mother the second night. She wanted to say, "I love you, Daddy" to Obama's image on the jumbo TV screen. Thursday night the Obamas looked smashing, all flowing together in shades of pink. The rhetoric was the usual virulent socialist drivel, but with oratorical flair. Oprah cried her eyelashes off.

The next day, before Sen. Obama could even enjoy his little bounce in the polls, came the paradigm shift. Two words that will forever change the American landscape: Sarah Palin.

U.S. Sen. John McCain chose Palin to be his vice presidential running mate. She's gorgeous-a former beauty queen-intelligent, ebullient, articulate. More than that, she is a Christian and a conservative. The base went wild. Even McCain critic Rush Limbaugh called the senator "John McBrilliant." Those of us who have been waiting for someone to pick up the Reagan banner couldn't believe it. One of our own in the second highest office in the land.

The Libs went nuts. They rushed to Alaska to look for some dirt. She should stay at home, raise her kids. Her hair was out of date, her daughter was "loose." But the American people said "No!" We refuse to have one set of standards for Democratic feminists and a second set of standards for Republican feminists. Allegedly the Obama camp put out the word the liberal media were damaging the Democratic brand.

At the beginning of the election cycle, in very prescient terminology, Sean Hannity renamed his radio talk show the "stop Hillary express." Ironically, Hillary might have won. But it was the Democrats themselves who stopped her. The good ole boys, the ones with the money, wanted the most liberal senator in the Congress as their standard bearer. Thirty years after feminists burned their bras, it's still the same old story.

The frumpy older woman with a lot of experience was passed over in favor of the handsome younger man with no experience. Amazingly, Sen. Obama was never vetted. Watch for an October surprise as the American people learn about the "Weather Underground" and the acronym ACORN.

The scions of the Democratic Party will have plenty of time to mull over their mistakes.
Four more years.