What a difference a month makes

Quite a difference between covering the GOP and Democratic conventions. First of all, we've pretty much been shut out of Madison Square Garden. So we haven't had all those good delegate pictures -- and more important, comments -- that we did out of Boston.

Another danger: Because much of what is happening outside the Garden is the constant stream of protests, we risk becoming the "protest blog" and giving a lopsided view of what is happening.

We're not getting as many good, pointed comments about the issues from the delegates as we did in Boston. I suspect some of that is the more reserved nature of many Republicans, but also a function of being in New York where the barriers often are set back just a bit more and it's easier for delegates to melt into the crowd outside the convention.

We did have a good thread following some delegates from Alabama around. And there have been some other good moments, especially during Tuesday's demonstrations. But overall, a far cry from a month ago.

Part of it has been phone problems. But it also points out the need to keep reinforcing that it's the journalism, not the technology, that carries these things, and our efforts need to be redoubled in that effort.