“The point is that you see candidates running in these different kinds of contests. A primary shows you something that's different from a state party convention, which shows you something that is different than what a caucus shows you.” KindDifferentStatesShowsRunningPartyPrimariesCandidatesConventionsDifferent KindsContestsCaucus Author:Michael Beschloss
“First of all, there's no mention of political parties in the Constitution, so you begin American history with not only no political conventions but also no parties.” FirstsPoliticalPartyConstitutionConventionsAmerican HistoryPolitical Parties Author:Michael Beschloss
“So if 1960 had occurred under the old convention system, Kennedy would have had a very hard time getting the Democratic nomination because he would have been rejected by all those people who had worked with him in Washington.” PeopleIfsHas BeensHardDemocraticHard TimesConventionsRejected1960sNominations Author:Michael Beschloss
“So the result was that as one approached a political convention for most of the 19th century and for most of the 20th century until the 1960's, part of the drama was the fact that you didn't know ultimately who was going to be the nominee at the end of that convention week.” KnowsEndsFactsPoliticalResultsWeekCenturyDramaConventions20th Century1960s19th CenturyTaxi Author:Michael Beschloss
“Then you get to the last half of the 20th century, Americans are getting very skeptical about their leaders and their institutions, and another place that is affected is parties and conventions.” LastsPartyHalfLeaderCenturyInstitutionsAffectedConventions20th CenturySkeptical Author:Michael Beschloss
