On Planet Democrat, memory exists. In Tampa, there was a dark hole. At Mittfest, barely any mention of George W. Bush or his presidency occurred. History began the day President Barack Obama took office (with the exception of Paul Ryan claiming Obama was responsible for the closing of a GM plant that shut down before Obama assumed office). There was no talk of what had caused the economic collapse that still reverberates. Instead, Obama’s post-collapse actions were held responsible for the ongoing woes precipitated by the Bush-Cheney crash. —- It’s tough to generalize about the attitudes of large crowds, but let me try. At the Tampa arena, many GOP delegates oozed entitlement and privilege. When Ann Romney proclaimed, “This is our country”—and the crowd cheered—it didn’t come across as a moment celebrating inclusion. And there were few expressions of support from the GOP stage for the least fortunate in American society. The Republican convention presented no speakers who needed help, except for a few business people who claimed their companies had been injured by Obama administration policies (even though several had benefited from government contracts). —- The music in Dem-land (John Legend, Common, Jeff Bridges, James Taylor, the B-52s, the Warren Haynes Band) has been much closer to what you find in the real world than the musical fare at the GOP convention (Journey—that is, Journey without its original lead singer).