Day 1 of the Republican National Convention...or should I say FUNvention!!!

My thoughts on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention:

The pacing of the convention thus far has been bizarre. Is it absolutely necessary to periodically shift the action from the stage to a gaggle of ditzy female in-house "sideline reporters"? Couldn't they just give the people they're interviewing (mostly veterans) speaking slots onstage and cut down on the cheesiness? And when I say "cheesy", I really mean "cheesy": "reporting" done in a breathless, "how about that, folks!" tone of voice with the occasional fratboy-style "Whoooooooo!" thrown in for good measure.

Apart from that, it's just been clunky. Speaker Dennis Hastert announces a Dick Cheney cameo, and we get six momentum-killing minutes of him waving to various convention-goers before the producers move on to the Gerald Ford salute. Ten minutes later, the George H.W. Bush tribute video comes on, but without any sort of introduction it just sits there, and the soundman makes matters worse by missing the background music cue by fifteen seconds. They opened the primetime session with a nifty Saturday Night Live-style credits sequence, but these guys are having all sorts of problems getting ready for primetime.

Oh, and what's with the hammy singers belting out showtunes? Are they going to kick off every session of the convention? Please let this not be the case.

Some other observations:

1) Dennis Hastert looks like an elderly version of comedian/King Of Queens co-star Patton Oswalt.

2) I never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness for actor Joel Silver. His passionate 9/11-themed speech was the only thing the first hour of the primetime session had going for it.

3) The house band is apparently only going to perform songs by black artists (Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, etc.) who would never in a million years vote for George W. Bush.

4) I'm sure it seemed like a cute idea in the planning stages, but having a computer-animated elephant swing his trunk up and down on the giant TV screen behind Ed Gillespie as he was speaking was very distracting.

5) John McCain & Rudy Guiliani were brilliant. Brilliant enough to make up for the lackluster first few hours, I think. McCain's slam of Michael Moore---sorry, I mean "a disingenuous filmmaker"---was priceless. I didn't see it coming. Guiliani had a tough act to follow, but his speech might have topped McCain's----I loved hearing him take Europe to the mat for their lackadaiscal attitude towards terorism in general, whether it be now or decades ago. I would vote for either of the two for President in 2008 without a second thought.

6) Not a lot of talk about the economy. Like Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, I'm not so sure that any President can do a whole lot about the economy, but he can do something, and I'd like for the Republicans to reasure me that they're actually thinking about the subject. Humor me a little.

So far, so good...and bad. Maybe they can smooth out the edges for Tuesday's all-primetime show.

-Dave O'Connell