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Sep 1, 2008 11:05 pm US/Central

Reality Check: Rescheduling Political Conventions

Reporting
Pat Kessler
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ― It's not exactly a secret, but Democrats and Republicans don't often talk about it. National conventions are little more than weeklong parties and a free infomercial. The candidates don't even have to be there.

IN FACT...

It was 101 years after America's first party convention the first presidential candidate even showed up. Franklin Roosevelt went to Chicago in 1932 to dispel rumors about his health. His dramatic and emotional appeal for a 'New Deal' in America clinched Roosevelt's nomination and set a precedent for future candidates.

But that's NOT THE WHOLE STORY.

The truth is there are only a few items of business that must legally get done, and that doesn't take a lot of time. It includes gathering a quorum of delegates -- enough to adopt rules and a party platform.

And of course, voting for vice president and president.

Nevertheless, the REALITY is this: preemptively scrapping convention business is extremely rare, even unprecedented.

Not widespread rioting in 1968, not World War II or even the Civil War stopped the national conventions.

It's a strong indication that John McCain is determined to avoid getting linked to bungling by President Bush after Hurricane Katrina

That's Reality Check.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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