Convention season is upon us, and as the classic song lyric goes, “There’s no business like show business.”
Why would a statement better known for Hollywood or Broadway be applied to political conventions? Because in recent years, they’ve evolved into three-ring circuses with all the bells and whistles to provide the American public with a television show worth watching.
Nominating candidates have taken pro forma since the candidates have already been selected through the ridiculously drawn-out primary process. Conventions have become giant pep rallies designed to motivate “the bases” of both the Democratic and Republican parties to participate in the election.
In an effort to increase the viewing pleasure, wives of the candidates have now been added to the cast of thousands involved at each election. While there was a time when they just stood next to their husbands, waving to the crowds, they are now part of the show and speakers at the main event.
Eleanor Roosevelt, who addressed delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1940, was the first incumbent First Lady to address delegates at a national political convention.
Since that time, any number of first ladies and candidates’ wives have courted voters. After Barbara Bush took the microphone in support of her husband, President George H.W. Bush, at the 1992 Republican National Convention, having the spouses of the nominees address the crowd are now a prerequisite.
It’s hard to believe, but women weren’t allowed to attend party conventions when they began in 1832. In fact, presidential nominees usually didn’t attend them either, at least not until after World War II according to Carl Sferrazza Anthony, author of several books about first ladies.
Actually, presidential nominees learned of his party’s nomination on Notification Day, when a group of delegate officials and members of the media would show up at the nominee’s home. Wives would sometimes peer out of first-floor windows or eavesdrop behind closed doors.
Today, it seems that the parties have first ladies (or those aspiring to be first ladies) speak at the conventions in an effort to humanize their husbands. While they are certainly not going to talk about their significant other’s character flaws, they will talk about their virtues and morals and how that makes them qualified to be president.
The “early days” are a major part of the script. There are tales of young children, not much in the way of money, sharing the work load, private moments, and a love story with ingredients like apple pie and being a mom.
Talking to a television or movie camera and making it look easy has become an integral part of the political scene. But for all the talk, there reportedly is no data available to show whether these speeches-or most other rabble-rousing speeches at the conventions-make a significant difference come Election Day.
In the end, it’s still all about the candidates themselves, and their platforms and plans are the only thing voters should care about.
