Whether Tampa has been invaded by 25,000 people or 35,000 this week (we refuse to parrot the mainstream media estimate of 50,000), the overwhelming majority of these folks are political reporters.
So pardon us if we're excited to tell you about our exchange on the floor of the convention this afternoon with John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation, and a veteran of many conventions.
As far as Nichols is concerned, you don't have to dip back to the 1950s to rue the way that political conventions used to be. Twenty years ago is probably far enough. That's when Pat Buchanan delivered his infamous "culture war' speech at the RNC in Houston.
