He watched conventions for 6 mind-numbing days

One constant reverberates in the campaign for president of the United States: charges and counter charges regarding race.

Democrats claim everything the Republicans say is code hiding a racist opinion. Republicans respond that no matter what words they use their opponents manage to unearth racist intent.

Republican Mitch McConnell is the minority leader in the U.S. Senate. At the Republican convention he suggested President Barack Obama was in training for the Professional Golf Tour. Somehow that was construed as racist.

McConnell is married to Elaine Chao, an Asian American. It doesn’t seem likely he would be speaking in code in suggesting the president spends a lot of time on the golf course.

President Obama said the Republicans want to take America back to the days of black and white TV. I’ve not heard anyone say that was similar to the “put y’all in chains” comment from Vice President Biden. Maybe that was some sort of racial reference, but no one has said it was. If he were a Republican and said that, it is almost certain Democrats would have hollered foul.

I am partisan, favoring the Republican Party. I admit it. But I don’t see racism in either comment. I see, instead, efforts to divert attention from the real issues.

I watched most of the speeches and videos for both conventions. That was not easy. I also switched channels, catching the Fox network conservative nuance and the CNN liberal nuance. Following those mind numbing six days, I came away with several conclusions.

First, I remembered why years ago I was a Democrat. The things Democrats say sound so nice. President Clinton’s keynote speech was moving. Just give us more time and it will all be better was the message. That’s the same happy talk moms give their kids who have skinned their knees. It helps them forget the pain but it doesn’t cure the ill.

The former president’s remarks and those by others, including the speech by President Obama, were intended to make us forget the pain.

Second, I was reminded how over the years nearly every candidate for president has claimed the ability to create jobs. Government policies either inhibit or promote private sector employment but government doesn’t create many jobs. Speakers at each convention promised more jobs would be created if their candidate were to be elected in November.

Third, I’d forgotten why I haven’t watched many conventions recently. Major party political conventions don’t make much difference. They are intended to invigorate the true believers.

This year the Democrats did a better job of that than did the Republicans, mostly because the feel good approach works.

Speeches delivered with excitement and enthusiasm are fun to listen to and certainly do charge up the party loyalists. It is the policies and tone of government set by the president that make the difference.

Gov. Romney promised to repeal Obama Care. That won’t happen. It would require at least 60 senators to agree with the repeal. Not likely to occur. What will happen, if Romney is elected, will be an adjustment to the direction of the federal government.

Leading up to the final night most speakers at the Democratic convention made sure to point out the help the government has given to various groups of people. That feels good. It sounds nice but extending the role of government in people’s lives makes more people dependent on government programs for their lives and comfort.

At the Republican conclave the emphasis was on individual effort and potential success. That’s harder and not as attractive to some.

In the long term, the voters have to decide for themselves which approach is in their best interest and which will allow for a better future for themselves, their children and their children’s children. I choose self-reliance rather than dependence.

In the mid-1800s Alexis de Tocqueville, who, judging by what he wrote was not particularly enamored of the United States body politic, said that a democracy can only exist until the majority realizes it can vote for the candidates promising the most benefit from the public treasury. When that occurs, he predicted, the democracy would collapse.

About half of this nation’s citizens currently receive some financial benefit from government. This election may decide if the government’s intrusion is to continue to expand. If it does, de Tocqueville may prove to have been correct.