Conventions set political agenda

After the sideshows, the party conventions mark the true start of the US general election

Workers prepare the venue for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. Aaron P. Bernstein / Reuters

When Republicans gather in Cleveland today, as the Democrats will in Philadelphia next week, it will mark a change in direction in the long campaign for the American presidency. Having established who their candidates will be through the laborious process of caucuses and primaries, the parties will now regroup and concentrate on the main game of winning both the presidency and a majority of the available seats in Congress – 34 in the Senate and all 435 in the House of Representatives – at the general elections in November.

For the Republicans, it means getting behind Donald Trump, even if some do so reluctantly. Similarly, many of the Bernie Sanders holdouts among the Democrats will need to support Hillary Clinton despite reservations about her leadership. For Mr Trump, it means running a more conventional campaign. It will no longer suffice to grab attention through controversial sound bites and attack tweets. He needs to refine his message so it appeals to the Republican party faithful and broader public as well as his personal following.

This is where the party machinery will begin to crank into action. As the conventions attempt to present a united front in public and provide a platform to the diverse membership, there will be pollsters and image-makers working behind the scenes to take control of the message. There was a sign of this over the weekend when Mr Trump delayed a media conference intended to announce his running mate, presumably because it would have been dominated by questions about the terror attack in Nice. Mr Trump also acknowledged that he was a political outsider and admitted that he chose Indiana governor Mike Pence for reasons of party unity.

While many in their own parties worry about Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton, the good news is that there are safeguards within in the American political system itself. Its separate executive, legislative and judicial branches ensure that any individual excesses of whoever wins the presidency can be kept in check.