DEMS GATHER – BIG YAWN – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  Democrats are gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina, for their convention, which opens tomorrow.

There is clearly an atmosphere of apprehension surrounding the convention.  First, there is nowhere near the enthusiasm there was in 2008, when the Dems were about to anoint Barack Hussein Obama Jr. as the founder of their new religion.  That god has clearly failed.

Second, there is growing concern that the party is selling too narrow a message – one based on the academic world's notion of race, gender, and ethnicity.  Maybe those aren't the issues that are selling at a time of deep economic distress.

Third, the 900-pound gorilla in the room has suddenly become Bill Clinton, who will place Obama's name in nomination, despite his obvious contempt for the president.  Democrats are witnessing the opening gun of the 2016 campaign, when Hillary Clinton is widely expected to run again, and get her party's nomination.   But the calendar says that the 2012 election isn't over. 

Fourth, the party once self-dubbed "the party of the people" seems increasingly distant from those people.  The average working stiff doesn't seem especially welcome this week in Charlotte.  Especially if that working stiff goes to church on Sunday. 

One thing to look for this week is the nature of the Democratic Party.  Increasingly, this is not the party of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy.  It's the party of George McGovern, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.  Jack Kennedy could never be nominated by this party today.  And yet, the party still polls at roughly the same statistical level as the Republican Party.  Are we seeing the rise of the political left, or the decline of the GOP, a party that still struggles to deliver a popular message?  By any standard, this should be an easy presidential election for a Republican to win, but it will be a struggle, and there's no guarantee that it will be a winning struggle.  The only reason for any Democratic optimism is that the Republican Party remains unpopular. 

There is work to do.

September 3,  2012