Angelika American party conventions are perfectly organized productions. The presidential candidate is officially nominated, presented in the best light, and the party itself is celebrated. There is an unparalleled cult of personality, and the speeches are full of self-congratulation. The candidates' wives and children add a personal touch to the whole affair. They are brought on stage to highlight why the candidate is suitable for the presidency. I much prefer Angela Merkel's husband, who does his own thing and always stays in the background or doesn't appear at all.

Nevertheless, I watched parts of the Democratic and Republican conventions on television and found myself grinding my teeth more than once. Traditionally, the party of the incumbent president holds its convention after that of the opposition party. Since Bush belongs to the Republican Party, Obama and the Democrats went first and held their convention in the last week of August in Denver.

Hillary Clinton put on a brave face and left no doubt that the bitter primary battle between her and Barack Obama was forgiven and forgotten. She no longer sulked over the fact that Obama chose longtime Senator Joe Biden from the state of Delaware as his vice-presidential candidate instead of her. Clinton even orchestrated the informal vote by acclamation (by voice vote/applause/show of hands) to confirm Barack Obama's nomination and to shorten the lengthy process of roll-call voting.

You may remember that during the close primaries, she threatened several times to let it come down to the convention with the help of the superdelegates in order to still be nominated. The highlight was the appearance of the terminally ill Senator Ted Kennedy, who showed up despite a malignant brain tumor. He embodies the American Democratic Party like no other, and the Kennedy clan still exerts an enormous attraction on the American population. What the royal family is to England, the Kennedy family is to many Americans. But I digress.

Barack Obama skillfully incorporated the issues important to the Democrats, such as healthcare, energy policy, education, the economic situation, and foreign policy, plus the Iraq War, into his speech. He also did not forget to weave in the better care and support of American soldiers. A must if one wants to make it to the White House.

He also tried to shake off the image of being elitist, which the Republicans were all too eager to pin on him. He talked about his single mother, who at times relied on food stamps to make ends meet. Such personal anecdotes are expected by the general public in the USA to be able to identify with the candidate. Quoting the American Dream (or the "idea of America," as Obama put it) was, of course, also a must. This is particularly true for Barack Obama, as he became the first Black person to win the presidential nomination of one of the major parties.

The columned backdrop as the stage set for his speech seemed a bit strange to me, though. The Democratic Party was still basking in the success of their convention and celebrating the historical significance of this nomination when John McCain stole the show from them by selecting Alaska's Governor, Sarah Palin, as his vice-presidential candidate.

The left-leaning press was stunned, while the right was in a celebratory mood. Sarah Palin embodies the myth of the American small town like no other: mother of five children, deeply religious, with ultra-conservative views on issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, sex education in schools, and Darwin's theory. She not only knows how to handle a rifle but can also skin a moose and has taken on the oil industry in Alaska.

Now, Alaska is a very special state: vast in area, extremely sparsely populated, separated from the rest of the USA by Canada, rich in natural resources, and full of individualists who do not like being told by government officials how to live their lives. Although Palin is from Alaska and supposedly loves the natural beauty of her state above all else, she does not believe that global warming is caused by human behavior. This is despite the fact that in some areas of Alaska, the permafrost has become so softened by global warming that villages built on it are dramatically sinking and need to be relocated. She would also have no qualms about allowing oil drilling in the protected Arctic Wildlife Refuge.

McCain chose Palin as vice president purely for tactical reasons. First of all, she is a woman, and McCain hopes that disgruntled Hillary supporters will switch to Palin. However, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin have views as different as night and day, especially when it comes to women's issues. Additionally, McCain wanted to win over the Christian fundamentalist base of the Republican Party through Palin. McCain is not particularly popular there, as he has often made decisions in his long political career that contradicted their worldview.

What I absolutely do not understand, however, is that his plan also seems to be working. Since he placed Palin by his side, he has, in some polls, moved ahead of Barack Obama. As one of my favorite columnists, BobHerbert from the New York Times The statement correctly points out that the goal here is not to choose the next "American Idol" (the equivalent in Germany is "Deutschland sucht den Superstar"), but to find a qualified Vice President who can step in as President if necessary. As is well known, McCain is no longer among the youngest and has already had some serious illnesses.

Palin has no foreign policy experience and reportedly did not even possess a passport until recently. She believes that it is sufficient that Alaska is close to Canada and Russia. However, her platitudes are well-received. At the Republican National Convention, she repeatedly emphasized that she does not represent the establishment in Washington. Unfortunately, McCain has been part of it for almost 30 years. The slogan "Drill, Baby, Drill" also became a mantra for both Palin and McCain. Incidentally, McCain was against drilling for oil in the coastal regions of the USA before the election campaign.

When Sarah Palin isn't reciting pre-prepared lines, she often gets flustered. For instance, during an interview with Charlie Gibson from ABC, she didn't know what the Bush Doctrine entailed. I don't mean to brag, but as a newspaper reader, I know that the Bush Doctrine, among other things, states that countries posing a threat to the USA can be attacked preemptively. But it's likely that Sarah Palin and I don't read the same newspapers. In general, McCain's advisors allow Palin to give only a few interviews, and for the debates she will have with Joe Biden, a less open format is planned, as Biden is considered an experienced debater with a sharp tongue.

What annoys me the most, however, is the hypocrisy of the arch-conservatives. Shortly after McCain appointed Palin as his vice-presidential candidate, it leaked that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Now, I believe that this indeed has nothing to do with Palin's qualifications for a high political office, but none of the religious right were upset about this "fall from grace." It happens in the best of families, and as long as the girl doesn't have an abortion, everything is fine. If Obama had a 17-year-old pregnant daughter, the ultra-right commentators would be all over it. Palin first insisted that her family was off-limits, only to then prominently display her pregnant daughter and her boyfriend on stage at the convention. She even brought her disabled baby along. I just hope that this country will still surprise me and elect the first black president in November. That would be something.

• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Gold Rush In the Klondike
  	Arnie in Not" translates to "Arnie in Distress" or "Arnie in
  	Top product: Bathtub drain stopper
  	The translation of "Amerikaner bloggen über Deutschland" to
  	The telephone monopoly
  	The translation of "Deutsche Spezialitäten in USA" to English is
  	Generous Americans

  
  

• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Gold Rush In the Klondike
  	Arnie in Not" translates to "Arnie in Distress" or "Arnie in
  	Top product: Bathtub drain stopper
  	The translation of "Amerikaner bloggen über Deutschland" to
  	The telephone monopoly
  	The translation of "Deutsche Spezialitäten in USA" to English is
  	Generous Americans