On September 15, 2016, I attended a panel of students who worked at the July 25-28 Democratic National Convention in Philly and the July 18-20 Republican National Convention In Cleveland. Each of the students were assigned jobs to help run the convention.
Two of the convention’s attendees were part of the checking committee where they would verify visitor’s access passes to see if they were allowed into the convention center. One of the students said this job could get hectic as some guests didn’t have proper seats. Two of the students worked with news networks including an independent association known as free speech TV, and CNN. Free speech TV enables students to communicate stories without censorship. By attending these conventions, the students were able to see beyond the media’s perspective of the presidential campaign. One student was able to meet Corey Booker and Mayor Nutter and an additional student had the opportunity to meet Ben Carson, Donald Trump, and the Trump children. Another student worked for the shuttle service at the hotel Trump was staying at. He mentioned how politicians would, “Call saying they needed to be somewhere five minutes ago even though the place they need to be at is twenty minutes away.” They each worked very hard while at the convention and were grateful for the free drinks and food at the end of their 15-17 hour days.
It was stated by a member of the panel how the role of conventions, historically, are losing their usefulness. Due to the advertisement of parties, money is being wasted meanwhile the 3rd party candidates such as Jill Stein and Gary Johnson do not have the opportunity of an organized convention. One of the students mentioned, “The conventions are meant to draw in those on the fence and rally those that are committed.” They also spoke about how there is much more going on, on the convention floor that is not presented to big news networks. It was declared repeatedly how young citizens should get involved in politics to at least listen to what the politicians have to say regarding our nation. Our votes still do matter despite the fact that the electoral college has the upper hand.