Conventions: Do We Need Them?

For some time now, political conventions have been scripted, long-form commercials aimed at selling the candidate to the electorate. This year's Republican and Democratic conventions cost taxpayers about $68 million for each party's gathering. But was anyone watching, outside of Obama or Romney supporters and political pundits?  We hear from a couple of veteran political reporters, including To the Point's own Warren Olney, who's covered conventions for years , dating back to the 60's, when the conventions actually did real work.