This Is The Most Consequential Democratic Convention In Decades

The 2024 Democratic convention is an unprecedented mix of emotions, but it also going to be one of the most closely watched conventions in decades.

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An Unprecedented Convention Takes Center Stage

The days of conventions selecting candidates in back rooms and halls with the doors closed are long gone. Conventions were already declining for decades, and then the rise of the Internet effectively diminished them. Broadcast networks used to give wall-to-wall coverage of party conventions. Now, cable news talks over most of the speeches, and the broadcast networks only televise the headline speaker each night from 10 PM-11 PM ET.

It is a different world than the convention that I first observed. In the summer of 1980, I remember sitting on our living floor as a little future newsletter writer and watching Jimmy Carter accept the Democratic nomination with my dad.

Of course, as a small child, I had no idea what had really happened to get to that point, as Carter overcame a convention challenge from Te…