NEXTopia Welcome to NEXTopia, a Web diary in which NEXT writers — and readers — share their evolving thoughts on a variety of issues. The opinions you read below are those of the individual writers, not necessarily those representing The Seattle Times. Respond to NEXTopia Currently, NEXTopia cannot automatically post readers' comments on the blog. However, writers and editors will regularly post your name and comments unless you note otherwise.

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Thanks to Christina for reminding me that some people haven’t made up their minds yet. Seattle has warped my sense of political spectrum. But I wouldn’t say the Democratic Convention has done much to inform the undecided. The Republican Convention won’t either. Conventions have become grand coronations of presidential hopefuls. Every moment is staged to show the American voters what they want and not what they’ll get. And conventions aren’t cheap. The Boston Globe reports that the cost will be over $50 million with a third of that coming from tax payers. $400,000 will be spent on balloons and confetti alone. If you are serious about easing the squeeze of the middle class both parties could start by cutting their balloon budget. I have enjoyed watching this convention (Obama’s speech is the greatest political speech I have heard in person), but I haven’t heard anything about John Kerry’s ideas or plans. There was a time when these conventions meant picking the nominee of the party. Now they seem nothing more than expensive public relation campaigns. Respond to this posting

Posted by Andrew Avery at July 29, 2004 12:05 PM