Couch Potatoe Conventioneering

I'm cartooning the Democratic convention from Boston. It's not that I wouldn't love to visit Denver with tens of thousands of other hacks. But the fact is that newspapers are somewhat less lavish in their travel budgets than in years past, and 24/7 cable and web coverage significantly reduces the need to be at these affairs in person.

Certain things are undoubtedly missed. I remember in 1988, walking out of the Superdome in New Orleans during the Republican convention and witnessing Richard Lugar emerging from a car. He had just been informed moments earlier that his fellow Indiana senator, Dan Quayle, had been tapped as George Bush's veep nominee. He was ashen and panting in short, panicky breaths.

There are cartoonists on the scene, however. Ward Sutton is doing a daily piece for the Globe's oped page. And the Daily Cartoonist has a roundup of other inkslingers on site. Rob Rogers' account of trying to find the "Recreate '68" protestors is worth a read.