# American Party National Convention....convention?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-party-national-convention-convention/918941>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 25, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-party-national-convention-convention/918941 "2020-08-25T01:29:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-party-national-convention-convention/918941/1 "2020-08-25T01:29:30Z")

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So the RNC is kicking off just a few days after the DNC wraps up. To my mind that’s how I would want it as a Republican, your party gets to respond, deflect or change whatever message the opponents put forth.

Is there some protocol to this? Why wouldn’t a party wait until the other had selected their dates and do it less then a week later to stay in the news cycle?

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-party-national-convention-convention/918941/2 "2020-08-25T01:33:00Z")

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There’s usually a couple of weeks between the two, but COVID-19 changed things; the DNC was originally scheduled for July 13-16, and the RNC for its current dates.

By tradition, apparently, the party which currently holds the White House holds its convention second.