The 2024 political conventions are history. To say they were unconventional would be an understatement.
The Republican National Convention was staged in Milwaukee in the shadow of an attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination before an enthusiastic crowd with a theme that was anything but typical for a Trump speech: unity.
Now, face it, for most politicians and at most conventions that would be standard fare. But for the former president that was a remarkable shift in tone, and it represented an intense image makeover by the GOP in just four short days.
For about 14 minutes he talked about his harrowing experience in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a would-be assassin missed delivering a deadly blow by a quarter of an inch because Trump turned his head.
“I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear,” he said. “I said to myself: ‘Wow, what was that? It can only be a bullet.’”
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump said.
The crowd chanted back: “Yes, you are!”
But that shift didn’t last long. “The Donald” quickly changed gears and went back on the attack and stumped with his standard rhetoric: “Under the current administration, we are a nation in decline,” he said. “With our victory in November, the years of war, weakness and chaos will be over.”
Yes, the RNC was an unconventional convention.
So too was the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The political winds had blown long before conventioneers gathered in the Windy City.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota were chosen as the party’s nominees by virtual vote before the gathering. Of course, the Dems acted quickly because President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
The tone at the Democratic gathering was repeatedly described as “electric” and hopeful.”
In Chicago, to loud chants of “We Love Joe,” Biden said, “I love the job, but I love my country more. All this talk about how I’m angry at all those people (who) said I should step down — that’s not true. I love my country more, and we need to preserve our democracy in 2024.”
The president joked that he was too young to begin work in the Senate, elected at 29, and “too old” to remain as president. The goal was a show of Democratic unity. Of course, there are still those who believe he was forced out, though Biden maintains the decision was his.
On the nights that followed, there was a parade of stars preceding Harris’ and Walz’s big nights. You could almost quote the musical group Fleetwood Mac: “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.” There was a generational handoff of sorts. Several of the party’s aging figures acknowledged their twilight years and the emergence of new faces.
Then in her speech, the history-making candidate told what could best be described as grounded stories. And Harris expanded and expounded upon the anti-Trump playbook.
Oh, yes, there might have been “magic in the air’ for the Dems, but former first lady Michelle Obama perhaps said it best: There’s a hard road ahead.
Again, all this making for unconventional conventions.
There to cover both conventions were News4JAX reporter Scott Johnson and producer Kenna Bear, providing a unique Florida perspective.
They shared an insider’s peek and behind-the-scenes stories on this week’s “Path to the Polls.”
Watch anytime on demand on News4JAX.com, News4JAX+ or our YouTube channel.