For the two main parties of the American political system, there is no busier time than the months-long period just before a presidential election. In the current election cycle, the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, in which the delegates of both parties chose their nominees for President and Vice President of the United States, took place from July 18 to July 21, and July 25 to July 28, respectively. As this year’s presidential election is unlike any other in United States History, this year’s conventions were especially unique.
The 2016 Republican National Convention (RNC) was held in Cleveland, Ohio, marking the fourth time in party history that a convention was held in the state. According to the GOP official website, 2,472 delegates and 2,302 alternate delegates attended the convention. (Delegates are elected at the state or local level for the express purpose of choosing the party nominee at the convention.) In addition to the 50 states of the union, the delegates at the 2016 RNC represented the District of Columbia and five United States territories. Besides the party delegates, the RNC drew coverage from 15,000 credentialed national and international members of the press; on top of that, approximately 50,000 more spectators filled the seats of the stadium during the four days of the convention (“2016 GOP Convention – About”).
Like the 2016 RNC, the 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC) was also groundbreaking. For the first time in the party’s history, a woman, former Senator, Secretary of State, and First Lady Hillary Clinton, was nominated as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States. The 2016 DNC was held in Philadelphia, the fifth largest city in the country. On July 27, the convention’s third day, President Barack Obama endorsed Candidate Clinton at the convention, singing accolades for her while rejecting Trump in the same speech. Obama voiced his opinion that Trump is unqualified and unfit to take office. In contrast, Hillary Clinton, he believes, would be a better president than even he or her husband, former President Bill Clinton, ever were (Liptak, 2016). The 2016 Democratic Party platform emphasizes economic security and stability as its primary goal, which it hopes to achieve by raising income levels for the American middle class and by mitigating economic inequality. It also calls for social justice measures that combat, for example, human trafficking, corporate corruption, and torture (“2016 Democratic Party Platform DRAFT”).
Works Cited
“2016 Democratic Party Platform DRAFT.” DemConvention.com. 1 July 2016. Web. 3 August 2016.
“2016 GOP Convention – About.” Convention.gop. 2016. Web. 3 August 2016.
Liptak, Kevin. “Barack Obama slams Trump, makes appeal for Hillary Clinton.” CNN Politics. 28 July 2016. Web. 3 August 2016.
“Republican Platform 2016.” Republican National Committee. 2016. Web. 3 August 2016.
