There were speeches . There were protests. And of course, there were balloons The 2016 presidential nominating conventions are a wrap and the newly minted major nominees — Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump — are now officially slated to square off on the November ballot.Tens of millions of Americans tuned in as Clinton, Trump, and their respective surrogates made the case for why they are best suited to lead the country.Polls released in the days in-between the two conventions showed a tight race. So, who came out on top after two weeks of political punditry and pageantry?Cathleen Decker, a veteran political journalist for The Los Angeles Times , shared her take on the conventions in a series of tweets posted as the Democratic National Convention came to a close.Read on for Decker's thoughts on everything from the speeches to the stage and the state of the race as it stands today.