By Chris May

There’s nothing I love more than the big events that come around every four years: the Olympic Games, the World Cup, and my personal favorite the American political conventions! The GOP in one city. The Dems in another. One week to frame your party and its point of view for the whole country to see. And then its off on a dead sprint to the November election.

This year’s no different. The build up to a critical election in this country begins Monday, August 27th, in Tampa, Florida. That’s where the 2012 Republican National Convention gets underway. Mitt Romney and his freshly minted running mate Paul Ryan will make their case for replacing an incumbent president – never an easy task, even in these difficult economic times.

Then a week later in Charlotte, North Carolina, President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden grab the spotlight and make their case for a second term.

CBS3 is sending me to cover both of these big events. They’ll be my sixth and seventh political conventions, and I’m as excited for them as I was for my first in 1996. We’ll be telling lots of stories during these two weeks. Not only the ones that take shape on stage, but others that happen behind the scenes with delegates and politicians from the Delaware Valley and beyond.

We invite you to come along for the ride!