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Capitol View
LOS ANGELES -- Vice President Al Gore wrapped up the Democratic National Convention with, among other promises, a pledge to "give more power back to parents" by letting them choose the entertainment they want for their children. Signs from
Democratic
conventionHe and Tipper could start by rethinking the four-day television infomercial both major parties passed off this summer as national conventions.
Democrats held their convention in a rich, self-absorbed city, perfectly unsuited for a convention. And from the blase reception, delegates and the news media in town could tell that Los Angelenos were just counting the seconds until, as one newscaster said, "We can have our city back."
There's a lot to recommend that they keep Los Angeles, including the fact that it is a city without a viable mass transit system but with a huge police force, which it has no qualms about showing off.
Hawaii's 32-person delegation made the daily trip from their Pasadena hotel to the downtown Staples Center in a chartered bus, complete with an armed deputy sheriff.
Arriving at the convention center was much like checking into Halawa Prison, except the security was tighter. With a perimeter staked out with a newly installed 12-foot chain link, spike-topped fence and police stationed at every intersection downtown, the feeling wasn't one of security but intimidation.
This was my fifth national convention, but the first one in which the police appeared to outnumber the demonstrators.
Democrats started the convention calling the Republican gathering staged and scripted.
THE major difference was in what was in the playbook. The GOP wants the White House, so it excluded all candidates for office except George W. Bush and Richard Cheney from the podium.
The Democrats want to keep the presidency, but they also want to regain Congress, so just about anyone who is running for office was afforded three minutes of fame and a chance to address the convention.
Those not-ready-for-prime-time candidates were slotted from 1-5 p.m. every day. Most of the delegates would be milling around except for the ones from the speaker's home state, who would be dutifully assembled and waving signs.
Holding up the right sign was an important part of the convention. One of the delegate's principal jobs was to match the name on the sign with the speaker on the podium. Convention aides screaming things like "Guam needs more Tipper signs" would dash through the hall, flinging huge trash bags filled with the right signs.
That allowed cameras to pan the convention floor for waves of spontaneous eruptions of color-coordinated signs.
The pre-programed excesses dominating the convention made it difficult to take away any real memories from the convention, but here's two.
First, Henry Giugni, the former aide to Sen. Dan Inouye and now vice chairman to Cassidy and Associates, one of Washington's most powerful lobbying organization, was at the convention, despite heart surgery last year, and has been at every convention since 1964. The saying is still true: It's not whom Henry Giugni knows in Washington, it's who in Washington who knows Henry that is important.
Finally, I'll remember former Gov. George Ariyoshi, attending his seventh and probably last national convention, sitting in the hall and listening to every speech with his wife, Jean.
On the closing night, without fanfare, when they didn't think anyone was watching, Ariyoshi and his wife walked hand in hand out of the convention and into the night.
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com