I'm not usually one who spends a lot of time waxing nostalgic.
As reporters we live in the world of right now; what's happening today.
But as I have watched the political conventions over the past two weeks I have come to long for the days when these things actually mattered; where there was a floor battle for the nomination on the inside and more often than not a battle with protesters on the outside.
It's tough when you find yourself thinking, "You know, a little street brawl might perk things up about now."
Let's face it; these are well scripted, highly polished pep rallies.
People applaud on cue, chant in sync and cheer in rhythm.
It's preaching to the choir, and the nominees, whose positions were locked up months before, get a free shot at laying out their vision drenched in a pool of adulation without the worries of those pesky journalists or opposition viewpoints.
The primaries inevitably weed out the weaker candidates and while somebody always threatens to take his or her fight to the convention floor, in reality there is very little chance of that happening any more.
It's no doubt the reason why networks that used to cover the conventions live gavel to gavel now dedicate maybe an hour or so a night, and that just for the key speakers.
More than 90 percent of the voters already know for whom they are going to vote.
Your next president will be chosen by a relatively small group of undecided voters, and only those undecided voters who live in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The conventions then become a thank you in advance for the work the delegates are about to do in getting out that vote.
It may be important to the political process but it leaves at least one TV viewer yearning for days gone by.
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