Major party convention podiums:
   

   

1st image: Days 1-3, Democratic National Convention. (source: 129 images)
2nd image: Days 1-3, Republican National Convention. (source: 146 images)
3rd image: Day 4, DNC, Obama's acceptance speech. (source: 92 images)
4th image: Day 4, RNC, McCain's acceptance speech. (source: 70 images)

These images are composite-photo studies of the podiums used during the Democratic and Republican national conventions.  They were created by aligning and then averaging found-photos of the objects in question.  Given the acute awareness of image exercised by both major parties, I thought their respective podiums might be interesting points to examine.

Podiums.  Props for propping-up prospective presidents or perhaps puppets...

Uhg... sorry about that last line, I really need to get some sleep.

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.  That is easy.  All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.  It works the same in any country." - Hermann Göring

Now, before anyone throws a hissy-fit, I'm not saying that the GOP are NAZIs... but they do seem to be reading from the same play-book.  All of those "Country First" signs and banners creep the fuck out of me. 

  

All Democratic and Republican U.S. presidential nominees from 1900 to 2008.  Predictably, Democrats are on the left, Republicans on the right.  Each composite consists of 28 source images. Individual candidates who were nominated multiple times are weighted respectively here.

The two are appropriately similar, I think.