Two images stick out in my mind from the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

I watched the RNC from a distance, on TV. I saw a lot of white male faces in the cheering throngs. Yes, the Republicans are seeking to reach out to ethnic minorities, trying to instill a “we feel your pain” view in their hearts. But the people closest to the action in Tampa tell a different story.  The black and brown faces in the adoring crowds were few and far between. Everyone looked like, well, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, the GOP ticket seeking to unseat President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

And what did I witness first hand at the Democratic gathering in Charlotte this past week? Something quite different.

That crowd was as throaty as the Republican throng … maybe more so. It also was much more, um, colorful.

African-Americans were everywhere at the convention hall, along the street offering help to visitors and, oh yes, in the crowd cheering the president, vice president and all who trooped to the stage to exhort the adoring faithful.

That Democratic crowd looked a lot more like the country the party seeks to govern.

We are a nation, after all, that prides itself on its diversity. Correct?

The Democrats seem to get it. The Republicans? Well, they have much more work to do.