Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. As a Washington, D.C. native and self-proclaimed concerned citizen, I have always been surrounded by and interested in politics.
Conventions are a huge part of American politics on both sides of the isle. I consider myself a far left standing person and I am a registered democrat. Prior to my trip to Philadelphia, I followed the Republican National Convention very closely on television. It’s safe to say that the RNC was very disturbing for me to watch because I disagreed with the ideas that were met with cheer and found the inflammatory rhetoric extremely hateful and dangerous. Since I had such a negative reaction to the RNC, I had figured I would unequivocally love the DNC, but that was not exactly the case. I did not so much take issue with the DNC’s rhetoric because I agree with the Democratic platform, but more so the idea of political conventions in general left me feeling uneasy.
I want to preface my argument by saying that I loved many of the speeches and felt extremely fortunate to be able to see and listen to them in person. Michelle and President Obama’s speeches were my favorites and many others also moved me. I enjoyed seeing the speakers and watching performances, but the convention concept bothers me.
During both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions all of the speakers used their time to talk up their party’s ideals and tear down their opponent’s. Furthermore, both conventions were heavy on the “I love America” rhetoric. Personally, I have never been the most patriotic person around, but when you’re listening to an orator as talented as President Obama, it’s hard not to be fired up about the land of the free by the end. And I’m sure the same goes for republicans. From what I saw, RNC speaker Rudy Giuliani got the right-wingers in the room high on U.S.A.
When political convention speakers are not discussing how amazing the United States is, they are explaining their views. Then they follow that up by making sure everyone understands how twisted the other side’s views are. Now, as I said, I’m very far left and I’m a registered democrat so I do admittedly believe that the current republican platform is very twisted. Despite this, I don’t think it’s healthy for our country’s political parties to throw these huge, expensive conventions in order to make sure a crowd of people, who already agree with them, can cheer when they talk about how crazy the other is. Obviously, I am aware that the conventions are not only for the people in the stadium, but that doesn’t change the fact that they still promote partisanship.
Republicans and Democrats have these conventions every four years to talk up their presidential candidate in the hopes that it will give them the boost they need to win in November. As this is their goal, the entire convention is devoted to praising that person. The four day event is practically dedicated to worshipping the candidate. (I will mention that the difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is that in Clinton’s speech she never insinuated that she alone could fix the country. Unlike Trump, who believes he alone could be America’s savior.)
I enjoyed my time at the DNC and I’m sure some people even enjoyed the RNC, but as the concerned citizen that I am, both conventions left me worried. I want the United States to solve its issues and I do believe the Democratic platform is the best path for the country to take. But no matter what I think, no legislature can pass in this country without people from both parties agreeing. The 2016 election seems to be one of the divisive and nerve-racking races this country has ever seen. The idea of a Donald Trump presidency scares me more than anything, but he has a following now. Granted, a dangerous one, but when (knock on wood) Hillary Clinton is President, she is going to have to work with his followers and convince them to move to the left in order to have legislature pass. They’re unlikely to change their minds when they have documentation of democrats doubting their intelligence.
