The Democrats can surely stage a spectacle in Charlotte as dazzling as the Republicans presented in Tampa.
Although they can't cast Clint Eastwood -- which is a good thing -- the Dems can claim a bigger, brighter celebrity galaxy. Who needs Jon Voight when you've got Angelina Jolie?
Being able to summon Barbara Streisand is essential for a party whose bench lacks the marquee appeal of Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio or even Chris Christie, his bomb-bastic convention keynote speech aside.
What fresh faces might the Democratic convention showcase? That guy who's the governor of Connecticut?
Presumably, though, the Dems will have scriptwriters as gymnastic as those of Mitt Romney, whose acceptance speech offered moves so magical they could be described as Olympian.
Consider: Culminating a convention whose paeans to immigrant ancestors were as relentless (and occasionally, maudlin) as its tributes to Mom, the GOP presidential nominee extolled immigration without mentioning what he might consider doing for (or to) the millions, including moms and children, who are here illegally.
Romney excoriated President Obama for deficits while excoriating President Obama for proposed/supposed military and Medicare spending cuts.
He claimed to have a "plan" to "create" jobs via energy independence, while failing to accurately summarize his scheme as little more than "drill, baby, drill."
Romney suggested Obama had gone on an "apology tour," which never took place, then blamed Democrats for being divisive, as if his party hadn't spent ever moment since Obama's inauguration in attack mode.
Facts, schmacts. In the critical arena of image-softening, Romney's performance Thursday was boffo box office. He's got a leading man's handsomeness, plus a handsome family he clearly adores, and when his speech meandered into vagueness, as it often did, he appeared to believe every word.
Some of those words resonated, even with a lifelong Democrat who needed to get to sleep.