(Re)Generation Who

I’m in Baltimore.

“Why?” you ask.

No, really. Go ahead and ask. I’ll wait.

* * *

Well, since you asked, it’s that I’m attending a Doctor Who convention.

Why would I travel 607 miles to attend a Doctor Who convention?

Easy. I didn’t. I traveled farther than that. First, I drove to Atlanta, then flew to Baltimore. Then Uber to the convention at the Marriott. So more than 607 miles. I got that 607 miles figure because it’s 607 miles from here to my house, as the crow flies. And that’d be a darned tired crow.

But why this one? After all, there are Doctor Who conventions a lot closer.

Well, I’m a fan of the classic show. And the two surviving cast members from the very first season — the very first episode — were scheduled to attend this convention, called (Re)Generation Who. I said “were” because one has since canceled. Carol Ann Ford, who played Susan Foreman, the Doctor’s grand daughter, canceled this week. But William Russell, who played the Doctor’s traveling companion Ian Chesterton, is still scheduled to be here.

Also, there will be not one, not two, but three Doctors: Peter Davison, the 5th Doctor; Colin Baker, the 6th Doctor; and Peter Capaldi, the 12th Doctor.

Also, the entire contingent of 5th Doctor traveling companions will be here:

• Matthew Waterhouse (Adric)
• Sarah Sutton (Nyssa)
• Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka)
• Mark Strickson (Vislor Turlough)
• Nicola Bryant (Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown)

Now, before any of you nit-pickers start up, Gerald Flood, who voiced the 5th Doctor’s robot companion Kamelion, died in 1989. And Mike Power, who built the prop, died during the production of the series. So there.

There will be others there, too, of course, but there is a big 5th Doctor focus at this convention.

Though I’m disappointed that Carol Ann Ford won’t make it, I’m delighted that, William Russell, at 93 years of age, is still able to attend.

He alone is enough for me to attend. Everything else is a bonus.

So, what do the ratings mean?

Nothing.

That's what the TV ratings for Democrat and Republican Conventions mean.

Unless you believe in trends. More about that in a minute.

If you look at the Nielsen ratings for the Democrat Convention, 1960-2004, and compare them to the Republican Convention ratings, 1960-2004, you'll see that, for those 12 conventions, half the time, the party with the higher ratings won the White House. Of course, that means, half the time, they didn't.

In those 12 election years, the Republicans won the ratings just 3 times: 1972,1976, and 2004. They won two of those elections: 1972 and 2004.

The Democrats won the ratings 9 times: 1960, 1964, 1968, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000. They won 4 of those elections: 1960, 1964, 1992, 1996.

Which means that half the time, the party with the higher convention was the party that took the White House that November.

So, ratings mean nothing.

Except recently.

The party that won the ratings won the popular vote the last 4 elections. But not the electoral votes. Remember 2000?

Anyway, what brought all this up?

There seemed to be lots of news about Obama getting such high ratings. Until Palin and then McCain got even higher ratings.

But TV ratings don't always translate to an election victory.

We're going to have to get out and work for victory this year. Work hard.

The country ... the world ... needs a McCain victory.