Hi, everybody. I'm Bill Nigut.
I'm the host of GPB radio's Political Rewind.
This is another in a series of occasional reports we've been doing to help you
stay informed about how this remarkable presidential race that we're all
watching has been unfolding and will continue to unfold until the elections in November.
So let's get going.
Let's start today by going back and look at what's been happening in the race.
While you were all on summer vacation, both the Republicans and the Democrats
held their national conventions.
Now historically, it was at those conventions
when delegates from all 50 states and from US territories came together and
actually selected their party's presidential nominee.
There would be long protracted fights, back room deals, and often of a number of candidates one
would finally emerge to win the nomination.
And the choice is made by the delegates themselves.
That's really no longer the case.
Delegates are selected by voters in each state to represent a candidate.
And they end up going to the
convention where they cast their ballot for the person that the state has voted
that they want to be that party's presidential candidate.
The suspense is usually gone at the conventions now.
We know going in which candidate will have enough delegates to be the presidential nominee.
So what do they do with these conventions?
Well among other things, they put together a party platform.
That is they lay out their ideas for where they stand on important issues.
So for instance, both the Republicans and Democrats have a plank in their platform
about where the party stands on immigration, where they stand on gun control,
and other key issues like that.
The platforms aren't binding but the
platforms do give you an opportunity to learn a little bit about the general
thinking of the party on very important issues.
So conventions are over, and now
we're in a sort of a slow period in terms of the presidential race in which
each candidate Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump are out campaigning but there's
not really any major central event that happens at this period of time that sort
of propels the campaigns forward.
The next time that happens will be on
September 26, when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will meet in the first of the presidential debates.
Those debates are going to make a big impact on which candidate seems to be the strongest
contender for winning the White House.
And you'll have a chance to watch how those debates unfold.
Now, there's a wild card in all of this.
There are two other major candidates who are running for office.
One is Gary Johnson, he's the Libertarian candidate for president.
The other is Dr. Jill Stein, she's running as the green party candidate.
If either of those candidates can get 15% in major polling of the presidential race,
they will be on the stage for the debates.
But to have three or even four candidates on the stage will change the
dynamic in a very big way.
So watch for those debates.
They're going to be exciting.
And based on the kind of campaigning we've seen between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton,
they also promised to be really, really hard-hitting debates.
So that's the next big thing to watch for in the election cycle.
Remember voting is on November 8th.
And if you're going to be 18 years old by November 8,
if you're not registered to vote do it.
You get a chance to vote perhaps in your first presidential election.