The Democratic and Republican parties are close to formally naming their candidates for the presidency. This week, the Democrats will hold their caucus, and the Republicans will hold their caucus next week.
The general conferences of the two parties, the Democratic and Republican, are a last opportunity to show what each party is defending and uniting in the battle for the presidential elections scheduled for the third of next November.
There is no constitutional or legal necessity for the party to hold a general conference, but this phenomenon has become a political norm since the first general caucus was held in 1832, when Democrats held a general caucus in Baltimore, Maryland.
The general conference of each party aims to formally nominate its candidates to run for the presidential race, Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in the Republican case, and Joe Biden and his deputy, Kamala Harris, in the Democratic case.
Plans and mess
The outbreak of the new Corona virus (Covid-19), with which the number of people infected with the virus in the United States approached on the eve of the start of the General Conference of the Democratic Party of 5.5 million people, and the death of nearly 170 thousand people; Lissels plans to hold the conferences in a way that no one expected.
Before the spread of the Corona virus, it was assumed that each conference could gather tens of thousands of delegates and supporters of the party, which would contribute to the recovery of the city hosting the conference, as well as increasing the party's chances of winning this state in the next elections.
The chaos affected the two parties ’plans to deal with the two party conferences, whether with regard to their dates, or changing the city of the convening, and the end of who participates, and how this participation takes place.
In recent decades, the public conferences of the two parties have turned into something like sporting events or fun and entertaining Oscars, watched by tens of thousands in their conference hall, and millions watched on television or mobile phones.
Specific tasks
Despite the festive and spectacular atmosphere, a party conference is not completed until after the completion of a number of tasks, the most important of which are:
Selecting the party’s candidates for the posts of President and Vice President.
Help build enthusiasm for your party card.
Approval of a program that defines the party’s positions on internal and external issues.
Providing an opportunity for promising personalities among the party's cadres to appear at the national level.
In both major parties, a simple majority of delegates choose the presidential candidate, and delegates routinely agree on the person their presidential candidate chooses for vice president.
President Trump faced no serious challenge within his Republican party, and kept his ticket to Rep. Mike Pence.
On the Democratic side, candidate Joe Biden decided the race early after the elections on Super Tuesday at the beginning of last March, and Biden chose Senator Kamala Harris to accompany him on the Democratic Party card.
Because of the largely unity of the two parties behind the two candidates, this year's conferences will see no disagreements in the delegates 'vote for the two parties' candidates.
Scenario and consistency
This scenario is consistent with what the two parties have known in recent years, as the candidate with the party card wins and stands out without competition before the party's general conference.
This pushes the shift in the partisan focus during the days of the conference to other goals of the conference.
A voting process (which has become a pro forma) takes place among the state delegates to select the party's candidate, and each state announces the number of votes it has counted in alphabetical order. One delegate declares the totals of the votes for that mandate.
Traditionally, the party's general conferences were an opportunity for party representatives from different states to meet, exchange experiences and expertise, and work on forming networks of party interests that transcend state boundaries.
But the 2020 conferences will not provide these opportunities; As the 2020 Democratic Conference will be held remotely, using video technologies, given the outbreak of the new Corona virus, and broad restrictions will be imposed on participants in the Republican Party conference.
Delegates will vote electronically in the case of the Democrats, while the Republican Party has not yet disclosed the voting mechanism it will use.