Page 2 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 1976 Democratic convention no bore NEW YORK — It is an article of faith among the thousands of re porters and spectators gathered here for the Democratic National Con vention that it is going to be a dull affair. The nomination has been Jimmy Carter’s for more than a .month. There are no major fights on platform, rules or credentials, and no prospect of any rebellion against Carter js choice of a running mate. What a yawn. A prime-time bore. Baloney. This convention will be boring only to those who judge their regular evening television fare by the number of corpses displayed each half-hour and the ingenuity of the script-writers in arranging for their disposal. For those here and across the country who have a sense of history and a love of this land and its system of self-government, this has to be a fascinating moment. The Democratic Party is our old est political institution, an unbroken link with Jefferson and the Found ers, the source of 13 of our Presi dents. It is also perhaps the most diverse social institution in this land, embracing within its ranks the grandchildren of slaves and slaveholders, all of the immigrant tribes, the leaders of the academic and artistic and business worlds, of organized and unorganized labor — to say nothing of the majority of all functioning professional and amateur politicians in this republic. Yet, incredibly, this extraordinary institution exists — like Brigadoon — only four days every fourth year, when its elected delegates meet in a convention hall. Legally and functionally, the national convention is the Democratic Party, and nothing else so thoroughly symbolizes the party in the public’s mind. In 1968 and 1972, the Democratic conventions — as seen on television — symbolized violence and discord, riots in the streets and insults in the David S. B voder Readers’ Forum Guest viewpoints, in addition to Listen Up letters, are wel come. All pieces submitted to Aggie Forum should be: • Typed triple space • Limited to 60 characters per line • Limited to 100 lines Submit articles to Reed McDonald 217, College Sta tion, Texas, 77843. Author’s phone number must accom pany all submissions. aisles. The people judged, and rightly so, that a party which could not govern itself was not ready to govern the country. That will not be the case this year. Any journalist who does not recog nize that as a news story of some significance doesn’t deserve the as signment here. Historically, the great function of the national convention was to select the presidential candidate. But since the advent of television, public opin ion polls and the presidential primaries, that function has at rophied. The last convention that went beyond one ballot was in 1952, and this year will not break the skein. In modern times, the real role of the convention has been, not to pick the nominee, but to ratify the choice dictated by the primaries and the polls. But that is no empty gesture, because it is by no means an assured result. A nominee may win his majority in the primaries, but he es tablishes the legitimacy of his cre dentials as a presidential contender only in convention hall. The ac quiescence of his party must be at tained there, or his candidacy in the general election is foredoomed. If you doubt that, consider the fate of Hubert H. Humphrey in 1968 and George McGovern in 1972, or what happened to Barry Goldwater in the Republican convention of 1964. The real drama of this convention lies in Jimmy Carter’s efforts to be accepted as the legitimate leader of the Democratic Party. That drama is heightened, not only because of the disasters tht occurred the last two times the Democrats met, but be cause of who Jimmy Carter is. He is the first non-Washington candidate selected to lead the Dem ocrats since they became the party of the national government in 1932. Adlai Stevenson was nominated from the governor ship of Illinois, but he was the choice of the incumbent Democratic President, Harry S. Truman, and represented no break in Democratic tradition. Carter represents a real break with the past. He won primary victories as a critic of the “wasteful, inefficient government ’ created by the Democrats who have controlled Congress for the past four decades and the White House for most of the time. This convention will offer the first measure of his ability to enlist the willing support of those same congressional Democrats — who have, incidentally, become increas ingly resistant to the commands of strong executives in the past eight years. Carter is also the first real South erner freely chosen as the Demo cratic nominee since Civil War days. Lyndon Johnson of Texas had to be come President by succession before he could win in convention hall. In one sense, the Georgian’s ac ceptance by the blacks, who have earned more influence in the Demo cratic Party than in any other na tional organization, symbolizes the final healing of the wounds of the Civil War. But there are still many white Democrats from outside the South — in labor unions, in religious and ethnic groups and in academia — who have not lost their tear of the stereotyped “bigots of Dixie. Com ing to terms with them represents as much of a challenge to Carter as does the latent struggle with those en trenched congressional Democratic powers skeptical of all “outsiders. Those who cannot see the drama in this testing of wills and this trans fer of power are blind to the essential and exquisite workings of our politi cal system. Those who sneer at the convention as tedious or dull might as well sneer at democracy itself. Without successful conventions, there can be no viable political par ties; without viable political parties, there can be no hope of responsible government. America suffered when the Re publicans destroyed themselves in the Cow Palace in 1964, and when the Democrats fragmented in 1968 and 1972. A successful Democratic convention is a piece of work as worthy of watching and cheering as a successful moon-rocket launch. And its effects will be a lot longer-lasting. (c) 1976 The Washington Post 01976 by The Chicago Tribune All Rights Reseved Cbe Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or ,, ^ , , r .1 .. r ,i .. 7j . .7 7 , Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Servic- ofthe tenter of the article and are not necessarily those of the es Inc New York City chicago and Los Angeles . university administration or the Board oj Regents. 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Campus Editor Lisa Junod Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room Photographer Steve Goble 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Layout LeAnn Roby, Susan Brown <0P DRAWER is still coming! David Allan Coe “Long-Haired Redneck” PARAPHENALK T-SHIRTS The "New High Times 315 UNIVERSITY (NORTHGATE) 846-5515 1/5 carat diamond mounted in your ring. 1/8 carat diamond mounted in your ring $110. $60. AGGIE RING DIAMOND SPECIAL Two-Day Service Special good through July Top of the Tower Texas A&M Universit) Pleasant Dining — Great View SERVING LUNCHEON BUFFET 11:00 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. Each day except Saturday $2.50 DAILY $3.00 SUNDAY ^^.Carl Bussells x^Diamond Room 3732 E. 29th Town & Country Center 846-4708 Serving soup