Political conventions have a public and a private face. The respective parties and their nominees carefully control how each looks. John McCain's campaign is trying to keep some of his and Sarah Palin's positions on policy out of the public eye--meaning out of prime time speeches, and in some cases even out of the public forums that take place during the day and are open to the media. These omissions are as important to what the convention means as the speeches themselves. They show what candidate wants to hide from the public--until after he is elected.
--John B. Judis