The end of conventions?
Coronavirus precautions dictate that we cannot have traditional Democratic and Republican national conventions this year. This election summer may not feel quite the same without happy delegates in funny hats cheering in bunting-festooned convention centers.
But we could be seeing something more final — the death rattle of the national political convention.
Conventions do not pick candidates any more. They ratify them.
By the time the convention is held, the primaries and party leaders have determined the nominee. The convention is a coronation.
It has been that way for a long time.
There was some doubt at the Democratic Convention of 1960 and considerable drama at the Democratic Convention in 1968. The 1976 Republican Convention almost went off script. But, since then, conventions have been as predictable as an old “Perry Mason” episode or a re-run of “Batman.”
In 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, as in 2020, the choice, and even the platform, was settled long before the conventions.
Moreover, the presidential nominee chooses his or her running mate, not the delegates of the convention. So why waste time and money?
Even the parts of conventions that should be spontaneous and fun — balloon drops, cheers, chants and the roll call of the states — are so tightly scripted for television coverage that they lose all genuine impact.
What does that leave us? Usually the half-hearted spectacle of too many dull speeches and too many TV talking-heads spouting repetitive gossip and gibberish.
In recent years, the American TV networks have understandably lost their taste for wall-to-wall convention coverage.
There is nothing to cover.
In the future, conventions should be held only if the nomination is still in question and delegates have to break an impasse. If the nominee is set and has more than enough delegates to be nominated, and his opponents have conceded, the nomination could be formalized by delegates meeting virtually, or even voting by paper ballot. Or the party’s national committee could formalize the nomination.
It is a bit sad to lose the tradition of the political convention. But, in truth, it died, like the dodo, long ago.