Thinking of the ideas of America that the parties visualized: We saw a lot more stories and testimonials from non-politicians. I wanted to say “ordinary Americans,” but there was not much ordinary about Brayden Harrington, the brave and poised 13-year-old who bonded with Mr. Biden over having a stutter. And though it didn’t strike me as that momentous when it happened, the segment that best captures, for history, this everything-falling-apart moment might turn out to be when Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple celebrated by conservatives (and charged by authorities) for waving guns at Black Lives Matter protesters passing by their house, appeared on the R.N.C. on Monday night.

Posed in their wood-paneled parlor, warning viewers of dark forces coming to prey on the suburbs — it was like a dystopian attack ad filtered through a Bravo reality show. Later this week, when protests erupted in Kenosha after a policeman shot a Black man in the back, then a 17-year-old self-styled vigilante was arrested on charges of killing two protesters with an assault rifle, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It said so much about who is permitted and denied force in this convention’s imagined America, who is seen as a threat and who as a hero.

FRIEDMAN I agree that, maybe because the politicians seemed even more like they were playing to type, or even caricature, and despite the overwhelming force of that final Trump evening, it was the beamed-in “regular” individuals who still stick out in my mind. They had much more power than the celebrities, both good and bad. Though it probably says something more about the culture wars that the R.N.C. couldn’t even come up with Scott Baio. What I am really curious about is whether both parties will see this as a learning experience that could reshape the next round of conventions, or whether they will revert to type as soon as social-distancing guidelines are lifted.

Will the takeaway be: Use the White House! Live is better! And forget the Hatch Act because in the visual age, we need to exploit every tool at our disposal!? Or will it be that tapping into the testimony of private citizens and the intimacy of going into a living room has its own power, given the way we are isolated by the digital world? Will the clothes our candidates wear be used to pull you in, to emphasize the telling detail? Or will they be reduced even more to — well, primary colors? What do you think?

Source: New York Times

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