CONVENTION-TIME!

“Let’s Talk Politics with Adrienne Washington,” on the Lyndia Grant “Think on These Things” Show on WYCB-1340AM, MySpiritDC.com.

CONVENTION-TIME!

Get ready; for the next two weeks it will be blowhard politics, politics, and more misleading extremist politics as the Republicans meet for their nominating convention in Tampa, Fla., beginning Monday followed by the Democrats flocking to Charlotte, NC for their nominating convention around the Labor Day holiday which is the traditional kickoff for an even nastier and sillier campaign season.

It’s anybody’s guess whether Mother Nature will blow hotter, heavier winds with Hurricane Isaac than the convention podium speakers whipping up all types of predictable misleading political rhetoric, especially about affordable and accessible health care, but don’t expect any big surprises regarding the candidates at the top of the presidential tickets -- Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for the Republicans and President Obama and VP Joe Biden for the Dems.

These conventions have become a big waste of time and money because today they are so tightly scripted and the candidates so slickly marketed beforehand that even a lie detector would be hard pressed to a truthful fact among the primetime speeches. For example, DMV residents will recognize the anti-teacher diatribe espoused by former DC School Chancellor Michele Rhee who will be a featured education reform speaker at the GOP convention.

DMV residents can also watch the conventions podiums for familiar faces such as Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who led the GOP platform committee, to speak possibly about imposing the abortion consent law as well as turncoat Artur Davis, former Democratic Alabama Representative who moved to Virginia after losing his bid for that Alabama governor and has now gained notoriety for speaking out against the Obama administration. Don’t look for Senate candidate former Gov. George Allen who was not given a speaking role and decided to stay away from the convention to continue campaigning in his tight rematch race against his challenger former Gov. Tim Kaine, who will be speaking at the DNC convention a week later.

Speaking as well as singing in his Celtic rock band, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, seen as a future contender, will also be a featured in Charlotte. Again the District gets shortchanged. Not only has statehood for DC been left off the DNC platform this year, so has DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton been left off the speakers’ roster. DC Mayor Vincent Gray is attempting to rectify both glaring omissions, given DC’s solid support for the president, but he’s running out of time.

After all, the more substantive business is done pre-convention as each selected members formulate their party platform, or public policy on a range of fiscal and social issues. Few surprises here either. Locally, the GOP platform opposes DC statehood at the same time it asks the DC Council to loosen its restrictions on gun laws. The even farther-leaning right Republicans has reportedly adopted 11 of 15 of the grassroots Tea Party’s ultraconservative platform issues, according to press releases. That scary situation, should the Republicans win in November, means even harsher assaults on women and government budgets and those most vulnerable of Americans, children, seniors, and the poor who can least afford Draconian cuts. Doesn’t bode well for the rapidly dwindling middle class either.

No wonder the latest poll conducted by NBC News/Wall Street Journal shows a whopping zero, that’s zero percent support for the Republican ticket from black respondents. That dismal figure is less than George Bush (11 %) or John McCain (4%) got in 2004 and 2008 respectively. The president still enjoyed 94 % of black support in the poll.

As for social issues, watch the women. Isn’t odd that women’s issues, particularly contraception and abortion, have stolen center stage, but there is no high-profile woman on the ticket or even in a convention leadership role. But given the attention to such sideshows, including the craziness of so-called “forcible rape,” or “legitimate rape” put forth by Ryan and back peddling Republicans such as Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin respectively, some sane women at one of the conventions – such as the Republican Women for Obama or rising DNC star California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris (who is African/Asian) better emerge to speak sensibly on behalf of half the electorate who are not going to stand for imposing stiffer restrictions on abortions to including outlawing the procedure even as a result of rape and incest.

In fact, the Obama campaign is looking to steal thunder from the Republicans next week by launching a “Republican Women for Obama” video and the Romney-Ryan Wrong for Women Tour this weekend. The tour with stops scheduled for swing state cities, including Richmond, Va., will be led by such Democratic campaign surrogate such as Maryland’s congresswoman Donna Edwards, Georgetown University law student and women’s health advocate Sandra Flake, and White House adviser Valerie Jarrett. They will remind women voters that Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in the early days of his presidency.

Stay tuned for more convention craziness. No matter; big corporate sponsored parties will be had by all either in the host cities or the millions of convention watch soirees nationwide.

And, don’t forget to check your voter registration status.