MOCK CONVENTION FLASHBACK

With the 2008 Westminster College Mock Convention jumping from spring to fall semester, The County Line crew at WCN and Titan Radio News will need to hustle. I've started posting clips from the 2004 Mock Convention Coverage on YouTube to help students get a feel for how the convention works. It's also a nice way to reach out to those grads who lead the way four years ago.

2008 Presidential Mock Convention Slides Back Into 2007

from Titan Radio- August 16, 2007
The presidential campaign comes early in New Wilmington as the 2008 Westminster College Mock Convention will take place this November. That's three months earlier than originally planned. Convention faculty advisor James Rhoads, associate professor of political science, says a combination of early campaigns and primaries forced the College to move up the Westminster event. The Convention changes to a Wednesday-Thursday night schedule on November 7 and 8. The location will also change to the Witherspoon Rooms in the McKelvey Campus Center. The Mock Convention has taken place traditionally on a Thursday-Friday schedule in early February in Memorial Field House.

"The last several Conventions have had to move earlier and earlier due to the political parties moving up their primary schedules," Rhoads said. "This year, we have moved into the fall semester. In addition to the change in dates, we are instituting a year-long series of events to coincide with the presidential selection process."

When California moved its primary election date to February 5, 2008, it turned up the heat on presidential campaigns forcing them to begin nearly a year earlier. In Pennsylvania, Governor Rendell supported a move to change the Keystone State's primary to February. However, the initiative has failed to take root in the General Assembly. Nearly 40 other states will hold primaries before Pennsylvania's May primary election in 2008.

This year the Mock Convention will mirror the Democratic National Convention. Campus tradition dictates the event focus on the party not in control of the White House. Westminster's Mock Convention is recognized as the second oldest in the country as it began in 1936 founded by political science professor Thomas Mansell. The Convention started as an effort to educate students and cultivate participation in the political process of a presidential election.