Politico is reporting that Obama’s decision to move may cause the networks to roll back coverage of the conventions even further. True political junkies will remember the steady erosion of coverage over the last several decades. In the early days of television it was not unusual to get gavel-to-gavel coverage. By 2000, the networks were back to an hour a night. Then in 2004, just three nights were aired.
Are conventions little more than giant made-for-tv pep rallies for the two major party candidates? To a certain degree, yes. But perhaps because the parties have so catered to the networks, this is very little news on the actual convention floor. Any real fan of conventions will tell you the real fireworks happen at Credentials and Platform hearings. But when’s the last time you saw one of those?
Thank god for C-SPAN. They even show the Libertarian Party conventions. I have very fond memories of watching the Reform Party imploding in 2000, with the rival Hagelin faction leaving and starting their own convention. In 2004, several protesters managed to take the floor during an afternoon session of the RNC.
And this is precisely why I need a new hobby.
State Senator Mark Obenshain and Delegate Todd Gilbert are headed back to work today to hopefully work out a deal on transportation. The Northen Virginia Daily has coverage.
I’ll update this post later in the day once we have some sort of report.
UPDATE: Garren Shipley of the Northern Virginia Daily will have a live-blog going of the General Assembly. Essentially, it’ll be like listening to a ball game on the radio, just reading it. This is the closest you’ll get to live coverage today, so be sure to check it out.
Three stories you should know about:
-Edward Nathaniel Bell, who murdered Winchester Police officer Ricky Timbrook nearly a decade ago, is preparing his arguments for the U.S. Supreme Court. Let’s hope that the court finally allows the Timbrook family to have their justice.
-The new Strasburg Town Council met last night.
-Another innovative event for the McCain campaign: a conference call with Northern Virginia voters. Expect plenty of these virtual events, as well as many visits by both candidates, as Barack Obama comes to Fairfax tomorrow.
That’s all for now. Please join us tonight at United Country Real Estate in Mount Jackson for Phone Banking on behalf of the Goodlatte campaign. 6-9 p.m.
