The Republican National Convention in St. Paul Minnesota last week was an exercise in carefully constructed contrast. The speeches, context, issues, stances — even the colors and positions of cameras were chosen to reduce similarities to the Democratic National Convention in Denver the week prior. Standing out is what strategists from both parties hope will bring victory in November and wisely so. Change is a worthy strategy in any election but with the current president’s approval rating hovering around 30% the idea of change is more important than ever. And with the Barack Obama and John McCain appearing different shouldn’t be all that hard; Obama, a young African American could hardly be more different than McCain, a weathered Caucasian politician. There are others differences as well.

McCain supporters celebrate after his speech Sept. 4.

The Republican convention was alive with talk of energy dependency through drilling new wells domestically; Delegates even began calling for immediate exploitation of untapped US oil reserves in Alaska and coastal waters by chanting, “drill now.” Obama, on the other hand, has focused his policy on greater fuel efficiency for automobiles, natural gas and investment in renewable energy sources.

The topic of abortion is also a polarizing issue. The selection of Palin as a running mate renewed focus on this difference with her strong and vocal anti-abortion stance. She even gave birth to Trig who was prenatally diagnosed with down syndrome. Obama supports abortion.

But with the conventions behind us, the confetti swept away and impassioned crowds at home, the race begins in earnest and the differences begin to fade. The fact is, on many issues including those at the forefront for this election season, there is no decisive majority with voters. And when there isn’t a majority, politicians must be very careful to be the champions of change but not too much change. For example, Day 3 of the Republican Convention was set to the theme of “reform” (the closest Republicans dared to get to Obama’s “Vote for Change.”) That night former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani used his speech to poke fun at Obama’s platform and book title by stating that, “change is not a destination… just as hope is not a strategy.” A strong if not esoteric line that drew a loud reaction. But a day later McCain promised to “change the way we do business in Washington.” Perhaps he should have used the word reform instead.

When it comes to energy independence, the focus on various solutions moves with the price of oil but Obama and McCain have very similar solutions. In 2005, both Obama and McCain voted to ban drilling in the Alaskan wilderness. And both tend to focus on auto industry reform, renewable energy and natural gas. Both have publicly acknowledged that any action will take years to impact prices and will have to extend far beyond their time in executive office. With McCain, a recent promise to drill offshore was only followed by rising fuel costs and subsequent polls that suggest a majority (around 15%) support such a measure. He got ahead of Obama but not for long; Obama has already begun to realign and has mentioned a willingness to drill offshore if it helps his overall energy plan pass.

On the difficult issue of abortion, voting records on associated issues like partial birth abortion, abortion funding and parent notification reveal ideological differences but when speaking about the issues both candidates are more comfortable talking about reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies… not their voting record and certainly not ideological differences. Last Thursday, McCain left the issue of abortion out of his address altogether and during Obama’s acceptance speech on August 31st in Denver, abortion was mentioned only in the context of finding common ground. Again, through reducing unplanned pregnancies.

And as much as Palin has brought new excitement to Republicans with a conservative record on abortion and energy she isn’t on the ticket for president. Except for the death of a presidential John McCain or a rare split congressional vote, Palin’s role in shaping policy will be limited. Her time is now, in energizing a party and giving greater depth to the McCain ticket. After the election it will be McCain who has the office that counts. Besides, even for all her polarizing stances she was chosen as much to eliminate differences with Democrats as to create them. Before Palin’s arrival Obama had exclusivity on youth and his ability as an African American to make a historical presidency. The selection of Palin as a young woman took both from Obama and went a long way toward leveling the field.

Party affiliations look very similar too; both want to stand alone and have little to do with Bush (Senior or Junior) or Clinton (Ex-president or Senator.) Had convention-alerting hurricane Gustav come a week earlier I wonder if democratic party leaders would have seen it as an opportunity to limit face time with the divisive Clintons the way Republicans used video-conference to keep the unpopular President George W. Bush at arm’s length?

Protesters are surrounded by police downtown St. Paul MN during the RNC.

Convention halls and the transcripts of campaign speeches aren’t the only places pale contrasts exist. In the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul young voters, so-called “anarchists” and pretty much anyone else with or without a grievance came to march, protest, and sometimes challenge law enforcement. Meanwhile, inside, well dressed politicos, delegates and guests discussed with excitement the notion of Washington staffed by handpicked McCainiacs. But neither had the briefest notion of what was going on only a couple hundred yards and a few police lines one way or the other. Conversations I had gave the impression that the campaign was little more than a platform to speak out for their particular issue; whether it be the taxation of meat (an idea proposed by two members of PETA dressed in pig costumes) or the advancement of a presidential candidate. Suddenly with impassioned protesters outside and the shouting candidates inside both calling for change the two start to look very similar.

Elliot Andeson

On the street both Democrats and Republicans who were not protesting or practicing politics talked of change with indifference. To them all of it (even the idea of change itself) smelled of politics as usual. After all, in the world of U.S. presidential politics change is little more than a quadrennial buzzword. Forced to pick between the two candidates the choice often came down to deeply held convictions – convictions so deep perhaps that they were difficult to describe. Elliott Andeson, a Caucasian Vietnam Veteran who talked of his distaste for alligator leather and the best way to prepare fresh strawberries summed up his intention to vote with the simple phrase, “Jesus likes Obama.” A few blocks away Eric Singer, a well-spoken but self-described “house-less” African American talked of his support for McCain and Palin. He was comfortable denouncing the idea that one should vote based on race or gender, “Just because I’m black doesn’t mean I’m going to vote for Obama,” he said. Then, as I was putting away my recorder to leave he asked the question, “Who’s going to run our country?” For him, the answer was simple and non-partisan, “God runs our country,” he said.