Following the Democratic Party, the Republican Party Also Faces Poor Turnout... 'Low Voter Interest'

Republican National Convention Draws Fewer Viewers Than Democrats
Viewership Drops 28% Compared to Last Year's Convention
Virtual Convention and Political Polarization Diminish Convention Impact

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The national conventions of the US Democratic and Republican parties are major events for the broadcasting companies covering them, but this year the situation appears to be quite different. Following the Democrats, the Republican presidential nominee nomination convention also saw a significant drop in viewership ratings.

On the 25th (local time), US media including The New York Times (NYT) cited Nielsen Media Research, a ratings survey company, reporting that the first day of the Republican convention drew only 15.9 million viewers. This is a 28% decrease compared to the Republican convention four years ago. The 2016 Republican convention held in Cleveland, Ohio attracted 23 million viewers.

Although the Democrats secured more viewers than the Republicans, they also could not escape the assessment of underperforming in convention popularity. The Democrats, who officially nominated candidate Joe Biden last week, attracted 18.7 million viewers on the first day of their convention. This is a significant decrease from the 26 million viewers at the convention held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the last presidential election.

This phenomenon is attributed to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which led to most conventions being held virtually and on a smaller scale, failing to capture American interest as before.

As attention to the conventions declined, the convention effect of boosting approval ratings through the events also disappeared. Typically, after large-scale conventions, presidential candidate approval ratings tend to rise, but this effect is not seen in this year’s US presidential election.

In a poll conducted by YouGov and Yahoo News from the 21st to the 23rd, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s approval rating was 50%, while President Trump’s was 39%. This shows little change from the poll conducted on the 14th and 15th before the conventions, where Biden had 49% and Trump 38%. According to RealClearPolitics’ presidential candidate polling trends, which provide an overview of overall approval rating trends, Biden’s approval rating has remained steady after the conventions.

There is also analysis that the US political landscape has seen a disappearance of the moderate middle ground and a polarization toward the extremes, resulting in reduced changes in approval ratings. YouGov explained, "Since 1968, candidate approval ratings have increased by an average of 5% after conventions, but in recent years, the effect of political polarization has diminished this increase."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.