national party conventions
strategies to choosing a VP:
balanced ticket:
balance in terms of geog, experience, age, ideology, gender, race and/or religion
best recent example is obama who chose biden » age 65 vs 47, 4 years senate experience
also kamala harris: 55 years, 4 senate yrs experience
potential in govt:
sometimes a running mate is picked on what their attributes are, over campaign
strategy adopted by bush (2000) when he chose dick cheney
bush had no washington experience, but cheney had served as white house chief of staff (74-76) n defence sec (88-92)
also adopted by trump when he appointed indiana’s governor n former congressman mike pence in 2016
party unity:
rarely adopted » essentially where the eventual nominee chooses one of his former rivals as his running mate
adopted by regan in 1980 when he selected george hw bush as his running mate in order to reunite the party after a bitter personal battle
if obama had adopted this strat, he would have chosen hilary clinton as his running mate, trump may have selected ted cruz
however former party rivals are often incompatible politically n words previously exchanged so harsh that implausible for them to become partners
what are national party conventions?
starting point for the actual presidential campaign
theoretically, they chose the party nominee for the presidency n agree on a policy platform » primary process introduced in 1968 so now convention more of a rubber stamp
candidates also hope for a poll bounce from a convention
will try to hold it in a swing state
2016 » trump » cleveland, 20k capacity
2008 » obama » colorado football stadium, 100k capacity
do party conventions have any political significance?
traditional roles
publicity n activism
reunite party
traditional roles:
yes | no |
it’s a formal meeting to select the presidential n vice presidential candidates. to win, a candidate needs over 50% of delegates to support them | the winner is known well in advance of the convention, and the convention is stage managed to give the winner the best chance of winning the Presidency |
if no candidate achieves the 50%+1 threshold, then a brokered convention takes place with delegates allowed to switch votes, along with former presidents, party official etc | the winning candidate chooses their own platform and are not bound by the policy votes held on the floor |
delegates vote n determine the platform upon which they will stand
| there has never been a brokered convention |
publicity n activism:
yes | no |
party conventions can be judged on impact, positive publicity as a result of presenting themselves n policies or just by undermining the opposition. a poll bounce may also happen | conventions are just a small cog in a big wheel. other stages have bigger impacts n higher viewing figures |
party conventions can also enthuse activists n core supporters. helps to ensure motivation to vote and that activists work hard during the campaign
| many voters will be strong supporters of one party over another or have already made their mind up by this point |
the 2 conventions can effectively cancel each other out - in 2020 there was no evidence of a poll bounce for either biden or trump |
reunite the party:
yes | no |
after the primaries which bring conflict, the losing candidates give speeches to declare their support for the winner. effective ‘healing’ also boosts popularity | the impact on voting behaviour may be limited. voters may have developed support or opposition to certain candidates during the primaries. any ongoing divisions are unlikely to sway voters. cruz didn’t lose trump the election after all |
failing to reunite the party also can reveal divisions or make the winning candidate look weak
| people often vote for their party out of principle, conventions have limited role
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