How the national conventions have changed forever

The big picture: These pandemic-constrained conventions caught the populist winds of the moment.

• The breakout stars weren't politicians: they were a teen with a stutter and pardoned criminals, grieving parents and spouses, immigrants and Black men challenging stereotypes.
• President Trump's stagecraft further diminished the expectation that U.S. presidents should separate raw politics from governance. Future presidents will have more running room — unless lawsuits or investigations curb the experiment.

The bottom line: Presidential nominating conventions once were about messaging to party insiders to secure consensus. They haven't been that for decades — but this year's experiments finally gave both parties permission to cast aside the pretense and go straight to the voters.

Go deeper: The most viral 2020 national convention stories