U.S. presidential nominating conventions occur every four years, with delegates from each state gathering in the summer before the election to formally declare a party's candidate. They tend to focus heavily on domestic issues. However, foreign policy and national security issues are usually part of the parties' platforms and in some years have dominated conventions, notably the 1968 Democratic Party gathering in Chicago and the Democratic and Republican party conventions in 2004. Foreign policy platforms tend to offer a mix of candidate views and issues of interest to specific elements within the party. A number of experts say modern conventions are more about party unity than formulating policy.
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