John Dickerson on the evolving nature of political conventions, and how, in 2020, a pandemic means the serendipity and boisterous frivolity of a political party will be quarantined
American political conventions have been shrinking, and in the age of COVID-19, they will shrink right down to the size of a computer screen. The Democratic convention will take place not in Milwaukee, but almost entirely in cyberspace. Many speeches will be pre-recorded, and the Democratic nominee will not be in the same hall as his delegates. Political conventions used to be gaudy and important affairs. Power-brokers jostled, thrill-seekers gawked, and those with a fondness for buttons, pins and hats peacocked for each other. The stakes were high. Conventions were where parties actually picked their nominees. Sometimes that led to pushing and shoving. Almost anything could happen, such as at the 1980 Republican Convention, when the question of who Ronald Reagan would pick as his running mate was still a mystery. On the Democratic side that year, Senator Ted Kennedy came close to unseating incumbent President Jimmy Carter.
