It was the 3rd of September.
That day I’ll always remember, yes I will.
‘Cause that was the day, that my worries died.

(With all due respect to the Temptations.)

You could tell it was going to be a disaster even before it started, couldn’t you?

The hurricanes.  The cancellations.  The rushed decisions.

After the Democratic National Convention, it seemed like “deer in the headlights” mode for McCain followers, didn’t it?

Notice that I said “McCain followers” rather than “Republicans” because I believe that a large number of Republicans want our country to move towards and embrace a future filled with possibilities rather than fears.

People who want that too are probably the “New Silent Majority.”  (Someone check, is that term being used yet?)

Senator Barack Obama talks about “change” and while I appreciate that, I believe what he’s really representing is more than just change.

“Change” is getting to the finish line. But, as your track coach or gym teacher always said, we must go through the finish line.

Going through the finish line means changing, yes, but then allowing and embracing the better, more evolved, more joyful future beyond that initial change.  Many Republicans are ready and willing to do that.  And, let’s face it, they’re people too, especially if they vote for Obama.  :-)  Those ones know who they are, even if their friends don’t.  Yet.

Every parent knows that it’s not what you say that your kids remember, but how they felt when you said it. If you say “I love you” but you really mean “I’m busy right now” then your kids perceive the reality, don’t they?  It’s natural.

Grown ups are like that too, aren’t we?  Except many of us have to “unlearn” some of our conditioning in order to return to the same incisive level of perception that our own kids have.

In that regard, the R.N.C. and the lead up to it felt confused, defensive, worried, strained, forced, angry, artificial, empty.  These words seem to fit, don’t they?  Why is that?

Because there’s a mismatch.  It’s a natural disaster.  Just ask your kids.  The younger, the better.

Notice, this has nothing to do with policy. Policy does matter, but how can we be motivated as a team — as a country — by people whose body language and energy (and actions) don’t naturally match their own words? After all, we’re just kids, aren’t we, in so many ways?

When I watch the R.N.C. speakers, and in particular, their presidential nominee, I’m reminded of Clutch Cargo.  Remember him?  He was that animated television character in the cartoon of the same name that came on with Speed Racer and Johnny Quest after school when we were, well, kids.

Clutch Cargo was always really weird to watch because when he talked, only his lips moved and nothing else.  That’s all I remember, so many years later.

See for yourself, below (this episode seems particularly appropriate, somehow):

So, after this week’s slogans, jokes, gimmicks, insults, and one-liners are over, then what?

It’s back to the real world, isn’t it? The real natural world, right?

What will anyone remember of the conventions?  Which convention will be more memorable?  Which convention will have been more consistent with reality, with going through the finish line?  More natural? Does it matter?

Well, it does matter insofar as confirming what we already know, doesn’t it?

In the weeks to come, there’s going to be a lot of noise and distraction, isn’t there?

But, my suggestion is for us to focus on what we want, not on what we fear.  I mean that in both politics as well as in our own personal lives.

Make history now. Naturally.