The Conventions: Donkeys & Elephants Both Love Balloons

So, full disclosure: I love the conventions. I love them like I love The Amazing Race and Soap and the first four years of The West Wing. Can't help it - I'm a geek from way back. So obvs, I'm thrilled that it's an election year.

Dems - Denver starting August 25! Repubs - St. Paul starting September 1st! Ron Paul - BBQ at Ralph Nadar's House!

Please notice the Republican Party begins their convention on Labor Day, as to indicate their love of the working man. By making employees of the convention center work on Labor Day. Sigh.

Details on coverage after the jump with, shockingly, only one gay Anderson Cooper reference.



So ABC, CBS, and NBC are doing the usual - one hour a night for all four days, covered by their anchors. Snooze.

CNN hasn't figured out what their doing yet, so I'm just going to pretend that they're sending Anderson Cooper to the Republican Convention to bait Log Cabin Republicans and closeted Congresspeople.

Fox News has refused to discuss their coverage which is a clear statement that says to America that Dick Cheney has a plan and we're all going to die. So, you know, forewarned and all that.

MSNBC has announced the most ambitious coverage - 20 hours a day for both parties. Yes, I typed that correctly. From 6am until 2am. I was impressed for a second until I remembered that this just means Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews sitting around desks browbeating people into saying stupid shit. I can bet you that the VAST majority of those 20 hours a day will be punditry at it's worst.

So who do you watch? PBS and CSPAN, of course! CSPAN just points cameras and hits play - it's awesome gavel to gavel work. For coverage with analysis, PBS all the way... they'll be doing primetime coverage live every night.

The big three networks are wimps, the cable news networks are bullies. PBS & CSPAN remain the best source of political journalism on television.