Moving up the 2016 conventions

Both major parties are now considering moving their nominating conventions from late summer, around August and September, up as early as June in 2016. The most obvious reason is to name a nominee quicker and give them access to money which is locked up until they’re officially coronated.

Report from Reuters:

A Republican proposal to move up the date of the party’s presidential nominating convention to early summer in 2016 – instead of the end of August – could trigger a similar move by Democrats, officials in that party said on Wednesday.

Seeking to avoid a repeat of the nasty primary race that damaged eventual Republican nominee Mitt Romney last year, the Republican National Committee (RNC) said in a report this week that it might shorten its primary season for the next presidential election.

For Republican contenders, that could mean a more compact schedule of state primaries and caucuses, fewer candidate debates (there were 20 spread over nine months in 2011-2012), and a national convention in late June or early July.

Of course, not to be outmaneuvered, the Democratic National Committee is now considering a similar change:

Such a change by Republicans for 2016 could lead Democrats to move their convention to early summer as well, state Democratic leaders said.

“The party that gets their (presidential) nominee out for six weeks, eight weeks early would have an advantage,” said Dick Harpootlian, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. “I think there would be significant pressure” to move up the Democratic convention.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC), which will review the 2016 calendar in September, plans to closely watch the RNC as it determines its schedule this spring.

All this will mean more time for the campaigns to spend and raise money throughout the summer months far ahead of the normal time frame. The state primaries are completed by the end of June so this would simply speed up the official nomination process rather than let the nominee-in-waiting flounder for several months.