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Keith: Hello and good evening from Mainstream Media-TV, the folks you trust to do your thinking for you.

Well, Chris, the conventions are over, the candidates are nominated and now the fun begins. But first, let's look back for a convention wrap-up. Generally, how do you compare the Democrats and the Republicans? Your impressions?

Chris: Well, Keith, I found the Democrats more fun, more passionate and more welcoming. When I was on the floor in Denver I felt like I was among family and friends. In St. Paul, I felt like an outsider. I could sense the negative hostility.

Keith: Very insightful, Chris. OK, let's turn to the candidates' speeches. Obama versus McCain, your take?

Chris: It was like night and day. Obama electrified the nation with his inspiring message of hope and change. I put his acceptance speech right up there with the Gettysburg Address and Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, as words that school kids will be memorizing for generations to come.

Keith: And McCain?

Chris: Wooden, uninspiring, the same old right-wing stuff. And he looks so old; he can't even raise his arms above his shoulders.

Keith: Was he in an auto accident or something?

Chris: I don't know, Keith, but our news team is getting to the bottom of it. He may have had a stroke. If so, remember you heard it first on MSM-TV!

Keith: One sour note was correspondent David Broder calling Obama's speech pedantic and unimpressive.

Chris: Keith, it's amazing that in this day and age some white people still put down a strong black man who stands up and speaks his mind. Shame on Broder and his right-wing cronies. There's no place for that kind of biased racism in American politics.

Keith: Who gave the worst performance?

Chris: Republican speaker Mike Steele. He brought nothing to the GOP convention but the color of his skin.

Second place goes to ex-beauty queen Sarah Palin for her sarcastic, mean-spirited attack on Obama. Republicans always hit below the belt.

Keith: Well, at least she reads well from the teleprompter and has a good speech writer. But she also brings a ton of baggage to the ticket: Her hard-drinking husband, her promiscuous daughter and her Down syndrome baby.

To find out how American women view Sarah Palin, let's go to Andrea who's standing by at NARAL headquarters.

Andrea: Keith, Chris, I've been interviewing a diverse range of women at NARAL, Planned Parenthood, NOW and Emily's List as well as in our own MSM-TV newsroom and not one of them supports Sarah Palin.

They are appalled at Palin putting her career ahead of her family. They say that it harms the feminist movement by creating a stereotype of the selfish, ambitious career woman. They also condemn Palin's letting her young daughter bring an unwanted fetus into the world.

Keith: Wow, Andrea, not one Palin supporter among so many women? Andrea, some right-wing pundits criticize the media for hyping young Bristol Palin's pregnancy after ignoring John Edwards' sex scandal. Is there a media double standard?

Andrea: Of course not. We ignored the Edwards sex scandal to protect his cancer-stricken wife. Palin's kids are fair game because none of them has cancer.

Keith: Good point. Chris, what is your take on Sarah Palin?

Chris: Well, she looks great in a swimsuit, but do we really want someone in the White House who got her degree at the University of Idaho? And how can she be a world leader if she's never been on "Meet the Press"?

Keith: Then why did McCain pick her?

Chris: Let's be honest, Keith, McCain picked her in a desperate, cynical attempt to get votes. He's playing politics with the presidency.

Keith: But didn't JFK pick LBJ just to get votes, too?

Chris: No, no. JFK and LBJ were good friends who served together in the Senate.

Keith: Oh yes, now I remember. Chris, before we sign off perhaps our viewers would be interested in your own personal choice for president. Which candidate gets your vote on Election Day?

Chris: Keith, because of my position as an unbiased MSM-TV reporter, I never vote because it might compromise my journalistic objectivity. As I see it, my right to vote isn't as important as the trust placed in me by MSM-TV viewers. To me it's a matter of integrity.

Keith: Well said, Chris, and that's why so many Americans trust Mainstream Media TV to do their thinking for them. Good night and we'll see you again tomorrow.

Blair Lee is CEO of the Lee Development Group in Silver Spring and a regular commentator for WBAL radio. His column appears Fridays in The Gazette. His e-mail address is blair@leedg.com.