I read somewhere that this years Republican Convention is the latest ever(Aug-Sept 2?). This supposedly to get sympathy off of Sept.11. What IS the earliest and latest Conventions have been held?
Here’s a handy chart. They used to be earlier, sometimes in April, which is strange since while the elections were always the 2nd Tuesday in November, Presidents weren’t sworn in until the end of March until the 1930’s.
The Dems started theirs in 1996 on August 26th; same with 1968. But you’re right that it’s the latest ever, but a difference of four days doesn’t seem that significant to me. I don’t know about the exploiting 9/11 but this Democrat was and is happy that they chose New York. It will be a huge economic boost (we can handle crowds better than poor little Boston) and is a vote of confidence in our safety and a nice big “Fuck You” to the terrorists. I’m much more worried about the more crazy of the demonstrators than the politicians.
While I agree 100% that the Republicans wanted to exploit Sept. 11 to their best political advantage, I’ll also say that the ever extending summer Olympics played a part in the timing of the convention. The Olympics begin with football matches on 11 August and do not end until 29 August. Placing the convention during the Olympics would be bad timing.