After 4 years, it’s time for a presidential election again! All the campaign ads and debates are ramping up with less than 2 months left until November 3. Conventions were held for the political parties in the United States, occurring with a combination of both in person and remote from multiple places all across the country. From these conventions, the nomination of Joe Biden for the Democratic Party, and presidential incumbent Donald Trump for the Republican Party.

The Democratic National Convention

The first convention was the Democratic National Convention in the host city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lasting from August 17th to August 20th, the first day of the convention featured many of the DNC’s official constituency caucuses and a primetime lineup of speeches and performances – including from Senators such as Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders, both former contenders to gain the nomination of the party, but who both dropped out of the presidential race on March 2nd and April 8th respectively. Governors recognizable across the country, such as Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gretchen Whitmer, spoke, and there were performances of Maggie Rogers, Leon Bridges, Billy Porter, and Stephen Stills. 

Notable speeches and performances for the convention were the main speakers for each night, with Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter along with their wives. Musical performances from icons such as Billie Eilish were also presented at the convention. Joe Biden appeared on the final night of the convention, giving his acceptance speech for the nomination of the party.

According to the DNC’s website, the convention “will include live and curated content from cities, locations, and landmarks in all 57 U.S. states and territories.” As well, the convention assuring safety, saying, “the health and safety of the American people first and early on recognized the need to adjust our plans to ensure a responsible and safe convention.”

Throughout the DNC, many hot button issues in 2020 were discussed throughout all the nights of the convention, such as racism, healthcare, immigration, the economy, and more. Former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, stated on the final night, “Every American must now decide. Can America be a place where faith is about healing and not exclusion? Can we become a country that lives up to the truth that Black lives matter? Will we handle questions of science and medicine by turning to scientists and doctors? What will we do to make America into a land where no one who works full time can live in poverty?”

The Republican National Convention

The week after the Democratic National Convention was the Republican National Convention, which was held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Held from August 24th to August 27th,  the first day began with the re-nomination of Donald Trump, the incumbent President of the United States, to secure the nomination for his second term. Major speakers over the convention included Senators such as the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Marsha Blackburn, many representatives such as Matt Gaetz, Steve Scalise, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Multiple Secretaries of the Trump Administration such as Ben Carson (also a 2016 Presidential Candidate) and Mike Pompeo delivering his speech from Jerusalem, Israel. President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence also spoke, as well as the First and Second Lady Melania Trump and Karen Pence respectively. Controversy erupted, however, regarding many of the other speakers being the president’s children. 

The Convention also discussed a series of topics from healthcare, immigration, racism, and discussed the events that have occurred in 2020, just as the DNC did. Many of these speeches occurred in Washington D.C., and there was notably controversy in regards to President Trump giving his acceptance speech on White House grounds. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday night stated, “Today’s Democratic Party doesn’t want to improve life for middle America. They prefer that all of us in flyover country keep quiet. And let them decide how we should live our lives. They want to tell you when you can go to work. When your kids can go to school. They want to tax your job out of existence, and then send you a government check for unemployment. They want to tell you what kind of car you can drive, what sources of information are credible, and even how many hamburgers you can eat.”

These conventions over the course of 4 days were packed with much information of their party’s plan for the future, platform, and showing the downsides of the other party during the process. With the conventions for the nominations of Joe Biden and Donald Trump behind, the next thing to look forward to is the next 2 months leading up to November 3.