Unconventional Facts About Conventions: Democratic Convention

We continue our look at interesting facts about conventions past and present. The Democrats are the focus of today's post, with their convention slated for July 25-27 in Philadelphia, PA.

While the Democratic candidates' delegate counts heading into the conventions may not be as close as the Republicans', a nominee still needs to have at least 2,383 delegates out of 4,765 to secure the nomination. What gets a bit complicated is the Democratic Party's use of superdelgates, as they are not bound to align their votes with the outcome of a state's primary or caucus. While this seems counter intuitive to the democratic process, it actually falls in line with what the founding fathers envisioned. The Constitution originally allowed only state legislatures to elect U.S. senators until passage of the 17th Amendment. This was seen as part of our system of checks and balances to protect against votes of the "uneducated masses." 

With the technicalities of the convention and delegate count defined, let's look at some interesting facts about the party's past and present conventions.[Tweet "Interesting facts about the DNC past and present conventions. #GovEventsBlog"]

• The Democratic Party is the oldest mass-based political party in the world.
• During its first convention in 1832, the Party also adopted its modern name. Previously it had been known as "Republican Delegates from the Several States."
• The Democrats were the first to have a nominee's acceptance speech - given by Franklin Roosevelt at the 1932 convention.
• Democrats have held their Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia twice -- in 1936 and in 1948. The Republicans have used the city six times.
• The Democrats expect nearly 50,000 people, including delegates, elected officials, and members of the media to participate in the convention and its related activities.[Tweet "The Democrats expect nearly 50,000 people to participate in the convention. #GovEventsBlog"]
• The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is focused on using a diverse set of vendors, looking specifically for minority owned businesses. The DNC also held workshops with Philadelphia-based small businesses to help them plan for and get the most out of the increased traffic and attention they may receive during the convention.
• Philadelphia (and Cleveland) hope to have the success Tampa did. The host of the 2012 Democratic Convention brought in $200 million in revenue from the convention.
• In conjunction with the convention, Philadelphia will host PoliticalFest, an interactive, multi-location exhibition celebrating American history, government, and the road to the White House.[Tweet "In conjunction with the #DNC convention, Philadelphia will host PoliticalFest. #GovEventsBlog"]
• The city has also installed 57 decorated fiberglass donkeys around town to encourage people to explore the city. The donkeys were all designed by local artists and can be located with an app that coordinates a scavenger hunt.

With Hilary Clinton the presumptive nominee and first woman to head the ticket of a major party, we found these stats about women at conventions interesting:

• In 1900, Elizabeth Cohen was the first woman delegate at a democratic convention. She was initially an alternate but became an official delegate due to a vacancy.
• Laura Clay, a Suffragist from Kentucky, became the first woman to receive a delegate vote for the Democratic nomination for president at the 1920 Democratic Convention.
• In 1964, Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican, was the first woman ever to be placed into nomination at a convention. Democrat Shirley Chisholm followed 8 years later when she was placed into nomination at the democratic convention in 1972.

After the conventions wrap, the eyes of the world will turn to another huge event - the Summer Olympics in Rio. We'll take a look at some facts and stats surrounding that international gathering in the coming weeks.