Earlier this week I went into a store I frequent. The owner and I were talking about the conventions. Although he clearly favors Republicans, the owner offered a remark I found surprising.

The owner told me he saw a significant difference between the energy of the two conventions. "The Republicans just look dead," he told me. I commented that my wife and I had had the same impression. We also noted a difference in the music.

The music at the Democratic convention seemed to have more variety and was seemingly much more attuned to what was going on. Indeed, the music seemed calculated to elicit an emotional response. Democrats had a house band and singers who performed the music live.

In contrast, Republicans relied on recorded music. In addition, there was a lot of repetition of the McCain standards of "Johnny B. Goode" and "Raisin' McCain". Further, where the Democrats had a lot of variety, with soul, rock n roll, disco, country, etc. Republicans seem to focus on country or early rock n roll.

When I saw the following article I had the thought that maybe part of the reason Republicans may have the lack of variety they have may be conflicts with artists. If so, that's a significant restriction on the appeal of their events to people of different backgrounds watching on TV. Music is a factor that reaches across a lot of boundaries. Republicans would do well to resolve these conflicts.

Here's the link to the article.

http://www.popeater.com/music/article/back-off-of-our-barracuda-maverick/161983