Donald Trump is expected to be formally named the Republican Party's candidate for president at the party's convention July 18-21 in Cleveland. A week later, Hillary Clinton is expected to be formally named the Democrat nominee at the Democrat Party's convention, which will be July 25-28 in Philadelphia.
Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha, chair of the University of North Texas' Department of Political Science, is available for media interviews about the conventions. He may be reached at 940-565-2329 or mes@unt.edu. A video of Eshbaugh-Soha discussing the conventions is available at this link.
Eshbaugh-Soha says the conventions are opportunities for both parties to become more unified. As of early June, nine groups had applied for permits to protest outside the Republican convention venue, including some anti-Trump groups, and five organized groups of Bernie Sanders supporters had applied to protest outside the Democrat convention venue. However, Eshbaugh-Soha says he isn't concerned about disruptions at either convention.
He points out that even though the primary season was difficult for certain Republican candidates and their supporters, and even though some Republicans have misgivings about Donald Trump being the nominee, "it's in the party's best interest to come together."
"As they say, time heals all wounds," he says, adding that House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders will have conversations behind the scenes at the convention to "talk about how they can have a path forward -- perhaps if there is a President Trump and what it means for a Republican Congress."
"It almost goes without saying that political parties are in the business of winning, and they know how to come together to ensure they could do that," he says.
Eshbaugh-Soha doesn't expect an independent candidate to jump into the race because party unity is too important.
"The prospect of an independent, particularly a conservative or a Republican, will just serve to fracture the party and will undermine that primary goal, which is to win," he says. "We see repeatedly that third party candidates don't do well, and we don't see brokered conventions. We really haven't had one in the modern era of selecting presidents."

He says a convention acceptance speech provides a huge opportunity for the nominee to reach voters who are undecided or previously supported another candidate. The nominee, Eshbaugh-Soha says, must "take the mantle at that acceptance speech" and "unify the party, bring people together and speak to the breadth of the party support," which often results in increased favorability for the nominee.