Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years administered by the Democratic National Committee of the United States Democratic Party. As a national affair, the meeting is attended by delegates from all fifty U.S. states as well as delegates from American dependencies and territories such as Puerto Rico. Like the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention marks the formal end of the primary election period and the start of the general election season.

The primary goal of the Democratic National Convention is to nominate and confirm a candidate for President and Vice President, adopt a comprehensive party platform and unify the party.

Nomination

Today, the party's presidential nominee is chosen in a series of individual state caucuses and primary elections. Due to the nature of how the caucuses and elections are scheduled, the party's presidential nominee is usually known months before the Democratic National Convention is gaveled to order. Historically however, the choice of the party's presidential nominee was usually not known until the last evening of the Democratic National Convention. The choice was an often contentious debate that riled the passions of party leaders. Delegates were forced to vote for a nominee repeatedly until someone could capture a minimum number of delegates needed.

Backroom deals by party bosses were normal and often resulted in compromise nominees that became known as dark horse candidates. Dark horse candidates were people who never imagined they would run for President until the last moments of the convention. Dark horse candidates were chosen in order to break deadlocks between more popular and powerful prospective nominees that blocked each other from gaining enough delegates to be nominated. The most famous dark horse candidate nominated at a Democratic National Convention was James Knox Polk who was chosen to become the candidate for President only after being added to the eighth and ninth delegate ballots.

History

The first national convention of the Democratic Party began in Baltimore on May 21, 1832. In that year the infamous 2/3 rule was created, requiring a 2/3 majority to nominate a candidate, in order to show the party's unanimous support of Martin Van Buren for vice president. Although this rule was waived in the 1835 and 1840 conventions, in 1844 it was revived by opponents of former President Van Buren, who had the support of a majority, but not a super-majority, of the delegates, in order to prevent him from receiving the nomination. The rule then remained in place for almost the next hundred years, and often led to Democratic National Conventions which dragged on endlessly, most famously at the 1924 convention when "Wets" and "Drys" deadlocked between preferred candidates Alfred E. Smith and William G. McAdoo for 103 ballots before finally agreeing on John W. Davis as a compromise candidate. The 2/3 rule was finally abolished in 1936, when the unanimity in favor of the renomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt allowed it finally to be put to rest. In the years that followed only one convention (the 1952 convention) actually went beyond a single ballot, although this may be more attributable to changes in the nominating process itself than to the rules change.

William Jennings Bryan delivered his "Cross of Gold" speech at the 1896 convention. The most historically notable—and tumultuous—convention of recent memory was the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, which was fraught with highly emotional battles between conventioneers and Vietnam war protesters and a notable outburst by Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley. Other confrontations between various groups, such as the Yippies and members of the Students for a Democratic Society, and the Chicago police in city parks, streets and hotels marred this convention. Following the 1968 convention, in which many reformers had been disappointed in the way that Vice President Hubert Humphrey, despite not having competed in a single primary, easily won the nomination over Senators Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern (who announced after the assassination of another candidate, Senator Robert F. Kennedy), a commission headed by Senator McGovern reformed the Democratic Party's nominating process to increase the power of primaries in choosing delegates in order to increase the democracy of the process. Not entirely coincidentally, McGovern himself won the nomination in 1972. The 1972 convention was significant in that the new rules put into place as a result of the McGovern commission also opened the door for quotas mandating that certain percentages of delegates be women or members of minority groups, and subjects that were previously deemed not fit for political debate, such as abortion and gay rights, now occupied the forefront of political discussion. That convention itself was one of the most bizarre in American history, with sessions beginning in the early evening and lasting until sunrise the next morning, and outside political activists gaining influence at the expense of elected officials and core Democratic constituencies such as organized labor (thus resulting in a convention far to the left of the rank-and-file of the Democratic Party).

The nature of Democratic (and Republican) conventions have changed considerably since 1972. Every 4 years, the nominees are essentially selected earlier and earlier in the year, so the conventions now officially ratify the nominees instead of choosing them. The 1980 convention was the last convention for the Democrats that had even a sliver of doubt about who the nominee would be. (Kennedy forced a failing vote to free delegates from their commitment to vote for Carter). The 1976 convention was the last where the vice-presidential nominee was announced during the convention, after the presidential nominee was chosen. (Carter choosing Mondale). After the "ugly" conventions of 1968 and 1972, the parties realized it was in their interests to show a unified party to the nation during the convention, and to try to eliminate any dissent. And as the conventions became less interesting, and television ratings have declined (as they have for every type of television show), the networks have cut back their coverage significantly, which in turn has forced the parties to manage what is televised even more closely.

List of Democratic National Conventions

¹ A resolution endorsing "the repeated nominations which he [Jackson] has received in various parts of the Union" was passed by the convention.
² A resolution stating "that the convention deem it expedient at the present time not to choose between the individuals in nomination, but to leave the decision to their Republican fellow-citizens in the several states" was passed by the convention. Most Van Buren electors voted for Richard Mentor Johnson of Kentucky for the vice presidency; others voted for Littleton Waller Tazewell of Virginia and James K. Polk of Tennessee in the election of 1840.
³ Silas Wright of New York was first nominated and he declined the nomination.
⁴ Douglas and Fitzpatrick were chosen as the candidates of the convention after most of the Southern delegations walked out and formed their own convention.
⁵ Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Alabama was first nominated and he declined the nomination.
⁶ Breckinridge and Lane were nominated by the breakaway Southern delegates who had walked out of the Democratic convention and convened their own convention, also in Baltimore.
⁷ Eagleton withdrew his candidacy after the convention and was replaced by R. Sargent Shriver, Jr. of Maryland.

Mid-term conventions

In addition to the well-known presidential nominating conventions, the Democrats have held three mid-term conventions in recent decades: In 1974 in Kansas City, in 1978 in Memphis, and in 1982 in Philadelphia. The mid-term conventions were held to create enthusiasm and rally the party faithful. However, they were discontinued due to the cost, and the over-emphasis of campaigning by potential presidential candidates.

See also

• History of the United States Democratic Party

References

• Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at Baltimore, July 9, 1872
• Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held in St. Louis, Mo., June 27th, 28th and 29th, 1876
• Official Proceedings of the National Democratic Convention Held in Cincinnati, O., June 22d, 23d, and 24th, 1880
• Official Proceedings of the National Democratic Convention, Held in St. Louis, Mo., June 5th, 6th and 7th, 1888

External links

• The American Presidency Project, contains the text of the national platforms that were adopted by the conventions (1840-2004)

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