September Research Colloquium (The 2016 RNC & DNC: How the Coronation Became a Battlefield, Again)

For three decades political pundits and scholars complained that the national nominating conventions by major U. S. parties had become overly predictable events that served as little more than “coronation parties” for predetermined nominees. Arguing that these campaign events offered little by way of surprise or even newsworthy events, critics often waxed nostalgic for what they claimed were more eventful and interesting conventions of the past and longed for more exciting contemporary gatherings. In 2016, they got their wish. Between Donald Trump’s unexpected popularity among Republican voters (but not the GOP establishment) and Hillary Clinton’s second challenged “inevitable” nomination, the 2016 RNC and DNC offered a great deal of historically important moments. In this presentation, Dr. Tammy R. Vigil, author of Connecting with Constituents: Identification Building and Blocking in National Convention Speeches, will examine various facets the 2016 Republican and Democratic national conventions. She will focus on the communicative aspects of the conventions, including the deliberative arguments from the contested GOP gathering and the ways each party eventually built the case for a candidate not all party members were excited about.