Poll: Political conventions boring, but useful
By Keating Holland/CNN
July 19, 2000
Web posted at: 5:00 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Most Americans believe that the majority of political party conventions are boring, but two-thirds say the parties should continue to hold their conventions because they serve a useful purpose, according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. Sixty-eight percent of those polled say the conventions are informative, but that doesn't mean the public will be watching the four-day gatherings once they get underway.
Just four in ten Americans say they will watch most or some of the Republican
National Convention -- which starts on July 31 -- and the same number say they will watch most or some of the Democratic National Convention two weeks later. Convention organizers will also be preaching to the choir -- more than half of those who plan to watch at least some of the GOP convention plan to vote for Texas Gov. George W. Bush for president, and a majority who plan to watch at least some of the Democratic convention say they support Vice President Al Gore.
Despite low Nielsen ratings, however, only a quarter of those polled say that the parties should stop holding conventions. Sixty-seven percent say the conventions still serve a useful purpose, up significantly from 1992, when just 52 percent thought conventions were useful. Surprisingly, younger Americans are more in favor of continuing the convention tradition even though many have no memory of the time in American history when the nominees were actually chosen at the gatherings. Seventy percent of those polled say the conventions are boring, but 68 percent also say they are informative, and nearly as many say they are good for democracy.
The poll, conducted July 14-16, consisted of interviews with 1,063 adult Americans, including 635 likely voters.
CNN / USA Today / Gallup Poll
July 14-16
Should the political parties stop holding national
conventions?
Now 1992
Yes 24% 38%
No 67 52
Sampling error: +/-3% points
CNN / USA Today / Gallup Poll
July 14-16
Please tell me if each of the following words describes
the political conventions.
Boring 70%
Informative 68
Good for democracy 66
Sampling error: +/-3% points
CNN / USA Today / Gallup Poll
July 14-16
How much of the Republican convention do you plan to watch
on TV -- all or most of it, some of it, only a little bit
of it, or none at all?
All or most 11%
Some 29
Only a little 28
None at all 32
Sampling error: +/-3% points
CNN / USA Today / Gallup Poll
July 14-16
How much of the Democratic convention do you plan to watch
on TV -- all or most of it, some of it, only a little bit
of it, or none at all?
All or most 13%
Some 27
Only a little 26
None at all 33
Sampling error: +/-3% points
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