Well, it's that time again when the two major political parties spend a lot of rah-rah time rallying their bases, accepting their platforms, and bashing the other guy. Oh and yeah, they nominate a presidential candidate too! Last week the Republicans met in Tampa to nominate their candidate, former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney. The RNC featured several carefully crafted speeches--Anne Romney's humanizing portrait of her husband and running mate Paul Ryan's barrage against the President--and some interesting ones like Clint Eastwood's now famous "empty chair" speech.
Now it's the Democrats turn as they meet for three days in Charlotte, North Carolina. Some may ask why campaigns bother to hold nominating conventions at all. After all, they are costly and time-consuming--and arguably much less necessary in the digital age. But aside from giving future rising stars in the Party a chance to shine, not to mention three days of free airtime on the cable networks; there is a very practical reason to hold a nominating convention: swing states.
Both Florida and North Carolina are swing states, meaning they both are seen as possibly delivering all of their electoral votes to either party's candidate. Florida has a robust 29 electoral votes up for grabs while North Carolina has a solid 15. Obama won both states in 2008--with North Carolina being a solid pick up for the Democrats as the state had voted for the Republican candidate in each of the last 5 elections prior.
What factors do you think may contribute to Florida or North Carolina voting for either candidate? Who do you think will win each state? We look forward to your responses!
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