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. This election cycle, the Democratic Party’s drama over its nominee has once again opened debate over whether conventions should go back to their roots and pick nominees, or if they should remain the decorative coronation events they’ve become over the past half-century.
In 1831, the National Republican Party held its own national convention, and the Democratic Party followed suit the next year. The open convention strategy was not without criticism. As Theodore Roosevelt challenged William Taft for the Republican nomination in the early 20th century, he protested the delegate model as anti-democratic. The smoke-filled rooms with big party bosses swaying delegates behind the scenes were not to his liking. As a leader of the Progressive Era, Roosevelt believed direct primaries best captured “the voice of the people” as Postell said.
As Postell put it, “Somebody like you or me, we could never actually run for office. … We’d have to get the backing of all these donors. We’d have to go out and make a lot of speeches.” 1968 proved to be the next pivotal point in the battle between open conventions and direct primaries. After then-Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, multiple Democratic candidates hustled to clinch delegates at the convention. At the same time, violent protests put a pall over the event as Vietnam fervor hit a fever pitch. Although Vice President Hubert Humphrey, the establishment’s favored candidate, won after the first round, the atmosphere crackled with tension.
In the years since the McGovern-Fraser Commission, both major political parties in the United States have adopted what are known as direct primaries. While historically, a victory in a primary was not a guarantee of the state’s delegates, in modern politics, that is no longer the case. The current nominating process in the U.S. mandates delegates be awarded based on results in primaries and caucuses.
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