— Emily Dickinson

Last Wednesday night, the Democratic National Convention raced toward its conclusion like a Hollywood blockbuster in search of an Oscar.

The ultimate challenge at a political convention is to determine exactly what is real and what is not.

The big party conventions are, after all, the state fairs, the Purims, the amusement park parties, the jamborees, of the political process — and a big share of the political process is, as all of us know, image, spin, even illusion.

To the degree that politics is perception — a product as slickly packaged and adroitly promoted as Coca-Cola, Madonna or Vegas vacations — no greater monument to that art exists than the almighty convention.

That became clear the moment any visitor entered the Pepsi Center during this week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.