The risk of going off script

For all but 12 minutes, last week's Republican National Convention was everything party leaders now demand of these quadrennial affairs: carefully choreographed, with each prime-time speaker adhering to the schedule and the message of the night.

But that 12-minute gap in discipline was one doozy of a distraction.

For party strategists, it was bad enough that 82-year-old Clint Eastwood was on stage twice as long as scheduled, strayed off message by taking President Obama to task for positions not necessarily disputed by Mitt Romney (Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay) and employed a cheap tactic - projecting profanity and ill temperament on an imaginary Obama. Then again, unfairness was not off-limits from the script of this convention, as illustrated by the half-truths laced into the speech of vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.

What really had to frustrate convention choreographers was that Eastwood's baffling performance, not Romney's acceptance speech, became the most scrutinized segment of the most important of the three nights.

Fear of a "Clint Eastwood moment" is certain to drain any remaining tolerance for spontaneity from the parties in planning future convention. It has become a matter of faith for party leaders that the elements that make good television - nomination drama, platform fights, emergence of firebrands who seize the spotlight - do not help the nominee's chances in November. The parties have accepted the reality that a drama-free convention will yield them just one hour a night on network prime time.

The Republicans in Tampa, Fla., force-fed viewers with nightly themes, as will the Democrats this week in Charlotte, N.C. In case you missed the GOP's intended takeaways: Obama never delivered on his promises and has run out of ideas. His "you didn't build it" remark revealed an obliviousness to what made America great. Romney really is a caring human being, and even has a sense of humor away from the public eye. Business success is something to celebrate.

Conventions are no longer times for parties to define their souls, but are forums for the nominees to begin their general-election marketing campaigns. And, of course, they are opportunities for politicians to spend quality time with their big donors, and raise lots of money.

The fact that 15,000 credentialed journalists are still attracted to events with few if any unexpected developments - also known as "news" - may seem surprising in this era of shrunken newsroom budgets. But there is value in knowing how a future president is going to market himself, and how and where he is raising his cash, even if intra-party crankiness or dissent is kept out of camera view in the convention hall.

American taxpayers are subsidizing these galas with a direct contribution of $18 million to each party and another $100 million for security costs at the two conventions. That is a lot of public money for soft-focus infomercials interrupted only by the improvisation of a world-class actor-director who clearly stumbled onto the wrong stage.

The politicians who rail against government subsidies for artistic experimentation and civic-affairs programming should start by cutting off federal funding for their conventions.

Convention tension

The two parties have learned their lesson: Convention drama may be good for ratings, but it's lethal in November. Hence today's over-scripted gatherings.

Chicago 1968

Democrats

The drama: Vitriol reigned inside the hall, with bitter divisions over whether the party platform should call for an end to the Vietnam War. The "peace plank" lost in a close vote. Outside on the streets, Chicago police clashed violently with thousands of protesters in what some later called "a police riot."

Searing image: Sen. Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut , speaking from the podium, decried the "Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago" in an in-your-face denunciation of host Mayor Richard Daley.

Election outcome: Nominee Hubert Humphrey lost to Republican Richard Nixon.

Miami Beach 1972

Democrats

The drama: The three-day convention was one of the party's most chaotic and contentious of the century. Protracted fights over delegate rules, party platform and the vice presidential nomination thoroughly upended the schedule, and had the sessions running well past midnight.

Searing image: Nominee George McGovern ended up delivering his acceptance speech at 3 a.m. Eastern time, long after most Americans had gone to bed.

Election outcome: McGovern lost in a landslide to President Nixon.

Kansas City 1976

Republicans

The drama: This was the last major-party convention that began with the nomination unsettled. President Gerald Ford managed to narrowly defeat challenger Ronald Reagan, but not before the delegates passed several platform planks that rebuked his administration's policies.

Searing image: Even in defeat, Reagan was the star, thrilling delegates with an impromptu speech that clearly upstaged Ford's pedestrian acceptance address.

Election outcome: Ford lost to Jimmy Carter.

New York 1980

Democrats

The drama: Carter went into the convention with the nomination seemingly sewed up, but challenger Ted Kennedy made a last-ditch effort to free all delegates to break their commitments on the first ballot. Carter prevailed on the "open rule" vote, but it was Kennedy who electrified the hall with his "Dream Will Never Die" speech.

Searing image: After the nomination, Kennedy gave Carter a perfunctory handshake and then went out of his way to avoid him in a devastatingly awkward dance on the podium.