Speechwriter finds political conventions still are still relevant

Do the political conventions still matter? Earlier this week in the Christian Science Monitor, legendary speechwriter and Vital Speeches correspondent Bob Lehrman considered the question and, perhaps not surprisingly, concluded that conventions do matter—because of the speeches:

At the upcoming conventions, some speeches will offer clichés and distortions. Some will bring insight to issues. Some will show us a politician articulate enough to become memorable even when speaking from a teleprompter. Some will offer us only a single memorable phrase. But, then again, we might hear something that will stay with us for a lifetime—even if it isn’t in the script.