Rep. Xavier Becerra looks around the set up for Democratic National Convention at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C.
Weather shortened this year's Republican event from three days to four, just as the Labor Day holiday has shortened the Democratic gathering, and it's clear that nothing has been lost. It's not as if a fourth night or a fifth or a sixth would make any of the speeches more effective or make it more likely that the party's message would reach persuadable voters.
Maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I wouldn't miss the hours of pandering to supposedly key groups or the predictable speeches by sitting Members of Congress or state officeholders. I wouldn't miss the parade of speakers telling me how poor they were growing up or how many challenges they have overcome.
Keep the candidate videos and the speeches by the nominees for vice president and president. And by all means, keep the balloons. As a country, we need less politics and more balloons.
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
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