I had the opportunity to cover the democratic national convention and the republican national convention for stern magazine, a german news magazine. the production of washington politics keeps a firm grasp on it's own portrayal in the media and these conventions are perhaps the epitome of that production. If one ignores the perfectly placed taped-off corral created for the media and the overly-staged moments, the mechanisms behind the curtain begin to reveal themselves. here's a few from my take.