America's Political Conventions Explained: Why Are They Still Running and What's Happening in 2020?

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(CNN) - America 's national quadrennial political conventions are scheduled, even in this time of COVID-19, to formally designate each party's presidential candidate and establish official party platforms for general elections.

Democrats will meet, mostly virtually, Aug. 17-20 to confirm former Vice President Joe Biden as their candidate. Republicans will do so from Aug. 24-27, in Charlotte, North Carolina, to confirm President Donald Trump as a candidate for a second term, a nomination he said he will accept elsewhere, possibly in the White House.

CNN will have live coverage of both conventions every night, but this unprecedented year there will be some major changes to party meetings.

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I spoke with Adam Levy, who oversees CNN's political research team, about what's different this year: how things will play out, and whether these things are still important.

Our email conversation is below:

What is the point of these conventions?

ZBW: My personal opinion is that the political conventions are a relic of a time when party bigwigs chose presidential candidates. Now it's the voters in the primaries. Is there still a functional purpose for these things?

AL: TECHNICALLY, yes. Voters elect delegates when they go to the polls during primaries, who effectively make the candidate official at the convention (after which, the parties send the names to the states for inclusion on the ballot). Do we still need a multi-day eulogy event for a candidate we already knew was going to be the one? That is definitely up for debate. I think the scaled-down versions of the conventions we'll see this year, due to the pandemic, could have a lasting impact on the scale of future conventions, but I'm not quite ready to bet entirely against the allure of a politician for an event. with falling balloons.

How have they changed?

ZBW: How did smoke-filled room conventions with party bosses evolve into the public performances we see today?

AL: People speaking out against them and demanding changes. The halls evolved from conventions without predetermined candidates, who were submitted to multiple votes. That hasn't happened in more than 50 years because voters didn't want party bosses to decide who the presidential candidates would be.

Both parties have made changes to the system that began in earnest after 1968. Adding primaries instead of party assemblies, creating more committed delegates, reflecting the votes of the people, and public transparency all played a role in the system we have. today.

What are they doing instead of fundraising events?

ZBW: Conventions are also bidding weeks filled with fundraisers. How are campaigns dealing with that hurdle this year?

AL: The campaigns are getting creative this year. There are tele-rallies, online fundraisers, and an even greater emphasis on social media campaigns. Everyone learns as they go along, and given the numbers both parties put out, it seems donors have taken it. In-person interactions will never completely disappear; it is beneficial to meet someone in person and listen to them… especially when you are protected by the Secret Service and fully fortified every day.

Joe Biden spent decades empathizing with people on his tours, listening to their stories and promising to speak for them. Donald Trump thrives on an audience and channels his enthusiasm into his work. Those have been critical pieces of your political characters, and I hope you want to get back to them as soon as possible.

Are there fights for party platforms this year?

ZBW: One of the least covered but most interesting elements of a convention is the party platform. Do you think people should know something about platforms this year?

AL: The Democratic platform is always a source of contention, and the Biden team is furiously trying to ease some of that friction. Supporters (and a significant number of delegates) of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have moved the party to the left since 2015. Hoping to avoid the fights at the 2016 convention, Biden's teams created "forces of Unit 'to work with Sanders supporters in formulating policy recommendations for the platform committee.

While this won't calm everyone down, it was a real effort on Biden's part to reach out to Sanders voters and delegates. Normally, there would be some kind of fight on the platform at the convention. It seems highly unlikely given the technological logistics of the Democratic Convention. Perhaps it is a small advantage of a totally virtual convention.

On the Republican side, as might be expected with an incumbent president, there are no changes this year. That caused a problem because the Republican National Committee voted to keep the 2016 platform, which criticized the "current president," who was not Donald Trump when it was drafted, in 2016. Either way, there will be no significant changes from the Republican Party.

Where will the events take place?

ZBW: Democrats were supposed to hold their convention in Milwaukee and Republicans were supposed to hold theirs… it keeps changing! Where will the Republicans hold their convention? And what is behind the selection of these particular places?

AL: Democrats have pretty much moved completely online, and only local delegates have made an appearance in Milwaukee. Republicans will continue to do some things in Charlotte, but both spaces are very tight. We still don't know where the president will accept his candidacy: he has presented the White House or Gettysburg as possible venues.

Why were Milwaukee and Charlotte originally chosen? By policy. The last time Wisconsin voted Republican in a presidential race, before 2016, was in 1984. President Trump snapped a 32-year streak, and now the Democrats are working tirelessly to bring that state back into the fold. North Carolina is a critical battlefield state that voted for Obama in 2008 and for Trump in 2016. Not only will that state elect the president, but both a Senate seat and the Governor's office are at stake. The races will have a great impact on the future of the state. The Republicans who elected Charlotte originally showed that they take such threats seriously.

What surprises to expect?

ZBW: Every convention has some strange or memorable moment. Al Gore kissing Tipper. Barack Obama stealing the show from John Kerry. Sarah Palin's surprise. Clint Eastwood debating with an empty chair. You have seen all the planned events. What will we talk about in a few years?

AL: Your examples show that unexpected moments can leave the strongest impressions. You never know who will give the most impactful speech or who will have a weird moment. That being said, I deeply look forward to some purely 2020-style moments during conventions. A child bursting into the room during a legislator's speech, a dog that barks relentlessly at the most inopportune moment and, of course, the speaker who forgets to silence the microphone. Both parties are working hard to avoid that, but as past conventions have shown, the best laid plans ...

Elections 2020 United States