---
title: "Interest in Democratic Convention Not as High as in 2008"
description: "Just more than four-in-ten Americans say they are interested in what happens at the Democratic convention, down from about six-in-ten in 2008."
date: "2012-08-30"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2012/08/30/interest-in-democratic-convention-not-as-high-as-in-2008/"
---

# Interest in Democratic Convention Not as High as in 2008

Just more than four-in-ten Americans (43%) say they are interested in following what happens at next week’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

That’s down significantly from the 59% who said they were interested in developments at the Democratic gathering in 2008 that made Barack Obama the party’s nominee for the first time.

In a survey done just before this year’s Republican convention in Tampa, 44% said they were very or fairly interested in following what happened at that gathering, compared with 48% on the eve of the 2008 GOP convention, and 46% in 2004.

In terms of advance interest in events at the Democratic convention, 55% say they are interested in learning about the Democratic platform, while nearly as many express interest in Obama’s acceptance speech (51%) and former president Bill Clinton’s convention speech (52%). [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2012/08/27/more-interest-in-gop-platform-than-romneys-speech/)