Reflections on the Convention in Philly

It was good to attend Hillary Clinton’s convention after spending time at Donald Trump’s. When you’re at Trump’s, you can’t believe the man is a major party nominee for president of the United States. When you’re at Clinton’s, you can’t believe the woman is a major party nominee for president of the United States. But here we are.

 

I will say that my personal experience in Philadelphia, as in Cleveland, was pleasant. Obviously there are fewer long-time friends or acquaintances, or for that matter TWS readers, at the Democratic gathering. But I went out of my way to spend a little time last week on the floor of the convention, and people were mostly good-natured. My presence was greeted sometimes with astonishment (“What are you doing here?”), sometimes with amusement (“Having a good time?”), and sometimes with minor hostility (some glowering and grimacing).

 

But the good news from both conventions is that, despite everything else about 2016, the basic traditions of civility and tolerance seem to obtain among most of the politically engaged types who become delegates to, or who volunteer at or choose to attend, the conventions. This brought home to me that, for all the legitimate criticism one can level at our “political class,” its members deserve better than the presidential candidates we’ve produced this year. You can see that by considering Mike Pence and Tim Kaine, two fairly representative, successful members of the political class, who are manifestly superior in character and qualification to their running mates. Obviously and unfortunately, they’re the vice-presidential candidates.

 

All of this is perhaps one piece of evidence for the (relative) optimism expressed in my editorial this week, “We’ll Survive.” And I do think the project of rebuilding and renewal that I sketch will be an invigorating one for all of us involved in American political life, especially on the conservative side. If I may quote myself: