CHICAGO, THE SITE of more political conventions than any other city, hosted a double-header in 1952. But what made these GOP and Democratic gatherings historic was not where the delegates gathered, but who was watching: the voters, on TELEVISION, for the first time. Conventions and campaigns would never be the same. This year the candidates are raising millions of dollars through the INTERNET, Web-savvy political junkies can track the races as never before, and convention media credentials are set aside for BLOGGERS. Is that the sound of the Earth shaking again?
Viewership of the 1952 conventions, in millions: 70. U.S. population in 1950, in millions: 152. Number of Americans who went online in September 2003, in millions: 150.
Years between the first major-party conven-tion (1832) and the first acceptance speech by a nominee: 100.
Record number of ballots needed to produce a nominee: 103, for Democrat John W. Davis in 1924.
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“The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like breakfast cereal is the ultimate indignity to the democratic process.”
–DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE ADLAI STEVENSON IN 1956
