On the first night of the 2000 Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles is pungently warm from the day's heat, but the climate inside the convention hall is cool and dry.

In the first hours of the meeting, runners in red jackets move along the aisles of the convention floor, distributing placards. During Jesse Jackson's rousing appeal for party unity, the convention floor is a sea of blue placards, clear visual consensus that everyone present is fervently behind the Gore-Lieberman team. Then the giant digital screen, towering over the stage, fills with stirring images of average families living and loving happily after eight years of prosperity under a Democratic President.

During the two minutes of video, runners move up the aisles of the New York delegation and distribute black signs proclaiming “NY loves Hillary” in white script. As Hillary Clinton takes the stage and television cameras swivel to capture the roar from New York's delegates, their delegation is marked by a distinct, united sea of black posters. After she speaks, the runners replace placards with the same efficiency.

Every important speaker is met with an impressively coordinated turnover in delegate placards. The display is for the benefit of primetime viewers.