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Mr. and Mrs.President

See How They Ran

Yes, Senator Robert Dole’s nomination as the 1996 Republican standard bearer was a foregone conclusion. Yes, the Republicans held a tight rein on production. And yes, Koppel's lament was only the most dramatic in a whole requiem for the good old fashioned conventions amid what Frank Rich of the New York Times called this "Oprahfied, pre-scripted, content-free" spectacle. Nevertheless, it behooves Mr. Koppel and his colleagues to work a little harder and pay closer attention this year. Truth be told, the conventions of yesteryear were not as "good" as we remember them, and modern conclaves remain very newsworthy.

It is a staple of American political iconography. A colorful continental cross-section overflowing in an arena, everyone futilely fanning themselves amid the oppressive summer heat. Ballot after ballot comes and goes, but the convention is hopelessly deadlocked. Panic is beginning to settle in over the crowd as heavily as the humid air when, all of a sudden, Senator Blowhard pop ups and bellows: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the great state of Weeziana, the land of River boats and River queens, proudly nominates our favorite son, and mah honorable colleague and verry good friend, Senator Savior for President." The tinderbox of a convention hall explodes. A sea of red-white-and-blue signs churns wildly as a flock of straw hats twirls through the air and a sustained volcanic roar erupts. The worthy leader is unanimously nominated and, months later, sweeps into the White House.

Unfortunately, there is a lot wrong with this picture. Deadlocked conventions usually made for bitterly divided parties and problematic campaigns. Dark horses were often obscure for a reason ... American electoral history is filled with more Winfield Scotts and Winfield Scott Hancocks than the occasional Abraham Lincoln. And the conventioneers were rarely noble democrats expressing the people's choice. The conventions were simultaneously earthy and elitist in a peculiarly American way. The rubes making the ridiculous speeches, sporting the absurd hats, puffing themselves up, acting buffoonish, were all bosses and insiders -- conventions were rather clubby affairs with controlled guest lists until the 1960s.

The "boring" modern convention that Koppel and company detests is, in fact, a tribute to the great democratization of the last half century. The respective nominations of George W. Bush and Al Gore are settled because primaries have put the power in the hands of the voters. Most modern conventions simply ratify the choice already made in voting booths across America. It may make for inferior television, but it is a mark of a better democracy.

Even with the big mystery resolved before air time, conventions are still teeming with news. Reporters may have to dig deeper, and television journalists may have to think more creatively about presentation, but conventions remain a motherlode of political information and drama. Perhaps producers need to fight for camera access to the cocktails and the cameras to appreciate what is happening. Reporters then have to do what they do best, weave together factoids and tidbits into a coherent, illuminating and dramatic narrative.

And there are many important stories to tell. The networking, the politicking, and most important of all, the policy-making taking place -- all these will shape American politics and government in the twenty-first century. How is George W. Bush managing the Christian right? How is Al Gore coping with the Naderite left? Guests lists and conversational bouquets, body language and bon mots, can reveal the inside story to a shrewd and energetic observer. At the same time, the party platform remains a serious document that reflects the party's carefully crafted public face. The speaker's line-up reveals who is hot, and who is not, and sometimes, who should be hot, and who should not.

Moreover, over the last two decades, the tightly produced, supposedly sanitized straightforward television coverage of the public convention has shaped the ensuing campaigns. Senator Ted Kennedy's eloquent concession speech in 1980 confirmed that President Jimmy Carter may have had the majority of the Democratic delegates that year, but Kennedy still had a lock on Democratic hearts and minds. Ronald Reagan's red-white-and-blue-balloon-filled spectacle in 1984 captivated the American public ... and demonstrated that the Gipper was eschewing ideology and going for the feel-good vote. Dan Quayle's political career probably never recovered from the way reporters treated him around the 1988 convention, just as George Bush's reelection campaign suffered from Pat Buchanan's vitriolic speech in 1992. Finally, during the very San Diego convention the media mucky-mucks disliked, Ms. Elizabeth Dole earned lots of mileage from her Oprah-style convention performance -- even if she did eventually run out of gas.

Make no mistake about this, most of these moments were broadcast moments. In fact, some occurred so late that print reporters missed the deadlines and could not report them until two days later. The morning after Pat Buchanan's speech, most editions of the New York Times had nothing for readers about the speech -- the event, as usual, was a television event.

Convention journalism may no longer be about big surprises. "Dark horses" and "deadlocks" have gone the way of the big city boss and the smoke-filled room. But political journalism should not just be about the search for surprises and the mounting of high drama. Politics is about horse trading and alliance forming and policy and power. Television journalists make good money. Both the Democratic and Republican conventions offer golden opportunities for Ted Koppel and his colleagues to earn their salaries by rolling up their sleeves, sharpening their pencils, wearing out some shoe leather, and finding the news where it is, not where they wish it was.