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.
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.
The first Democratic National Convention was held in
1832. In that year the infamous 2/3 rule was created, requiring a 2/3 majority to nominate a candidate for president, in order to show the party's unanimous support of
Andrew Jackson. Although this rule was waived in the 1836 and 1840 conventions, in
1844 it was revived by opponents of former President
Martin 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 in
1924 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 (
1952) 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 committment 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.
The
2004 Democratic National Convention, which nominated
John Kerry, was held in
Boston, Massachusetts at the
TD Banknorth Garden, then called the FleetCenter, from
July 26 to
29,
2004.
The 2008 Democratic National Convention will be held from August 25 - 28.
Denver,
Minneapolis/
St. Paul, and
New York are currently competing to host the convention.
1 The 1840 convention could not agree on a vice presidential candidate, and none was nominated. Ultimately, most, but not all, Democratic electors voted for Vice President Johnson.
2 Douglas and Fitzpatrick chosen as the candidate of the Convention after most of the Southern delegations walked out and formed their own convention.
3 Fitzpatrick declined the nomination.
Herschel V. Johnson of
Georgia was then made the vice presidential nominee.
4 Breckinridge and Lane nominated by the breakaway Southern delegates who had walked out of the main Democratic convention and convened their own convention, also in Baltimore.
5 Eagleton was forced to withdraw and was replaced by
R. Sargent Shriver, Jr. of
Maryland.
*
Proceedings of the Democratic national convention held at Baltimore, June 1-5, 1852*
Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held in Cincinnati, June 2-6, 1856*
Official proceedings of the Democratic national convention, held in 1860, at Charleston and Baltimore*
Official proceedings of the Democratic national convention, held in 1864 at Chicago*
Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held at New York, July 4-9, 1868*
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
