By the way, when I make comments about these speeches, for the most part I am not in any way talking about the actual content of the speeches, if it is stuff I agree with, or for that matter if it is even stuff that makes sense. I am judging them as speeches… as devices to get the true believers excited, and perhaps to convince people on the fence to choose a side… the actual substance is of course a completely different animal… one I have no comment on at this time. :-)
are you saving your comments until after hearing the rep. convention?
Hmm. I really haven’t actually had too many thoughts on actual content. The conventions aren’t about that. They are all about the optics and the emotional impressions left on people.
In terms of “meaningful” things like policy positions and such, I’m not sure the speeches are even where one should look. Instead maybe in the issues sections of the candidate websites.
But even then, as I mentioned in the last podcast, I’m not sure specific policy positions are even meaningful. By the time they take office, situations and issues will be different than they are today. Plus a lot of the policy things will really be determined in congress, not in the White House.
What is more important, at least to me, is to get a sense of who they look to for advice, who they trust, and how they go about making decisions. As well as of course their overall worldview. What is important to them, what is not. Etc.
I think you get more of that kind of thing from interviews (and MAYBE debates) than from the speeches and events like this.