2020 Democratic National Convention


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2020 Democratic National Convention
2020 presidential election

Presumptive nominees
Biden and Harris

Convention
Date(s)August 17–20, 2020[note 1]
CityMilwaukee, Wisconsin
VenueWisconsin Center
ChairBennie Thompson
Candidates
Presidential nomineeJoe Biden of Delaware (presumptive)
Vice-presidential nomineeKamala Harris of California (presumptive)
Voting
Total delegates3,979[a]
Votes needed for nomination1,991[1]
‹ 2016 · 2024 ›
Wisconsin Center will be the location of the convention.

The 2020 Democratic National Convention is an upcoming presidential nominating convention scheduled to be held August 17–20, 2020 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the convention, delegates of the United States Democratic Party will formally choose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election.

Originally scheduled to be held July 13–16, 2020 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the United States, the convention was postponed to August 17–20, 2020, and was ultimately downsized, with its location shifted to the city's Wisconsin Center.

Due to the pandemic, the format is planned to be substantially different from previous conventions, with most of the convention being held remotely from many venues across the country. While being a largely virtual convention, it will be officially centered at the Wisconsin Center, where its production will be headquartered and from where it will be gaveled in and out each night.

The presumptive presidential nominee for the 2020 convention is former Vice President Joe Biden. He selected Senator Kamala Harris of California as his vice presidential running mate.[2] Both are expected to be nominated during the convention.

Background

The convention will be the 47th quadrennial Democratic National Convention.

Site selection

The Fiserv Forum was originally planned as the venue for the convention

Bids on the site for the convention were solicited in late 2017 and were made public in the spring of 2018. Las Vegas later withdrew and decided to focus on the 2020 Republican National Convention, for which its bid was subsequently defeated by Charlotte.[3]

On June 20, 2018, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced four finalists for the convention site. Immediately following the announcement, the finalist city of Denver withdrew from consideration due to apparent scheduling conflicts.[4]

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez announced on March 11, 2019, that Milwaukee would host the convention.[5]

The selection of Milwaukee will make this the first Democratic National Convention to be hosted in the Midwestern United States since Chicago hosted the 1996 Democratic National Convention,[6] and the first to be hosted in a midwestern city other than Chicago since St. Louis hosted the 1916 Democratic National Convention.[7]

Milwaukee's selection was seen, in part, as emphasizing party's desire to place an focus on winning midwestern states like Wisconsin, and its desire to win back "blue wall" states in the upper midwest and Great Lakes region.[8][9] The swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin had been the states which the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence had won by the narrowest margins in the preceding 2016 election,[10] and had these states been instead won by the 2016 Democratic ticket of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, they would have delivered the Democratic ticket an electoral college victory in 2016.[11] The 2016 election had also been the first time since the 1980s that any of these three states had voted Republican.[12]

Bids

Winner

Finalists

With the exception of Milwaukee, each of the finalist cities was a past host of a Democratic convention. Denver hosted in both 1908 and 2008. Houston hosted in 1928. Miami Beach hosted in 1972. In addition, both Houston and Miami Beach have also previously hosted Republican National Conventions, with Houston hosting it once in 1992 and Miami Beach having hosted both the 1968 and 1972 RNCs.

Other bids

Atlanta had previously hosted the 1988 convention.

Change of venue

On June 24, it was announced that the convention had been downsized and would be held at Milwaukee's Wisconsin Center instead of its originally planned venue, Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum.[19][20][21]

The change of location will make this the first major party convention held in a convention center since the 1996 Republican National Convention, and the first Democratic convention to be held in such a venue since the 1984 Democratic National Convention.[citation needed]

Role of superdelegates

Superdelegates are delegates to the convention who are automatically chosen by the party, rather than by the results of primaries and caucuses. While technically unpledged, in the past many of them have informally pledged themselves to a predesignated front-runner in previous elections. The superdelegate system is controversial among Democrats, and supporters of both Clinton and Sanders have called for their removal in 2020.[22][23]

The Unity Reform Commission, created after the 2016 election, recommended[24] that the number of 2020 superdelegates be drastically reduced. In July of 2018, the DNC revoked the voting rights for superdelegates on the first ballot,[25] which has not happened since 1952 for the presidential nomination and 1956 for the vice-presidential nomination.[26]

Except for the presidential nomination, superdelegates will vote on all issues.

Selection of pledged delegates

The number of delegates allocated to each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., are based on, among others, the proportion of votes each state gave to the Democratic candidate in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections. A fixed number of pledged delegates are allocated to each of the five U.S. territories and Democrats Abroad.[27]

Qualification of suspended campaigns

The Democratic National Committee's 2020 selection rules state that any candidate who is no longer running loses the statewide delegates they have won and those delegates are then reallocated to candidates still in the race. However, the interpretation of this rule in 2020 races might be different than the interpretation in past races.[28] In previous elections, such as the 2008 presidential primary, candidates would suspend their candidacies rather than formally withdraw, allowing their already pledged delegates to attend the convention and pick up new ones along the way.[29] They would then formally withdraw when it was too late to reallocate the delegations.[citation needed]

Some controversy occurred in April 2020 when the New York state presidential primary was canceled over the COVID-19 pandemic. The New York State Board of Elections then cancelled the Democratic primary, in part to protect public health, but citing a state law allowing cancellation of elections that are uncontested.

The Sanders campaign stated that Sanders had not withdrawn and neither Sanders nor the DNC had requested the cancellation, and demanded that the DNC overturn the decision or disqualify New York's delegates.[30]

On April 28, Andrew Yang and several Yang delegates filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Board of Elections over the same cancellation.[31] Oral arguments were heard on May 4.[32] On May 5, Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York ruled that Governor Andrew Cuomo's decision to scrap the state's primary violated the 1st and 14th Amendment rights of presidential contenders who have ended their campaigns, and the Board of Elections issued a ruling requiring New York to hold its presidential primary in June, and to restore Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other former presidential candidates to the ballot.[33]

In addition, the Sanders camp insisted that the Connecticut primary, which had been postponed to August 11, at which time online convention voting had already begun, still take place so that its delegate candidates could possibly attend.[34]

Logistics

Before it was downsized, 50,000 people had been expected to attend the convention.[35] 31 state delegations were to stay in 2,926 Milwaukee-area hotel rooms and 26 delegations were to stay in 2,841 hotel rooms in Lake County and Rosemont, Illinois. Another 11,000 hotel rooms were to house volunteers, members of the media, donors, and other attendees.[36]

Milwaukee had been planning an extension of its streetcar line to be completed in advance of the convention. However, these plans faltered, and the expansion will not be completed in time for the convention.[37][38]

Organizers were originally planning to recruit 15,000 volunteers.[39]

Delay

The convention was originally scheduled to be held July 13–16, 2020,[40]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the convention has been delayed to August 17–20.[41][41] The DNC authorized its convention planners on May 12, 2020 to research alternative methods for participants to cast votes, considering that the DNC may decide to hold the entire convention virtually.[42]

Downsizing

On June 24, it was announced that the convention was to be downsized. The venue was shifted from the Fiserv Forum to the Wisconsin Center. But, instead of the entire convention being held in Milwaukee, it would now feature Milwaukee only as just a hub city for the major convention events. The convention is now planned to instead consist of what the DNC says will be "curated content from Milwaukee and other satellite cities, locations, and landmarks across the country".[43][20][44] All official business will now be conducted remotely. Organizers canceled official parties and events scheduled to be held in Milwaukee before and coinciding with the convention.[20]

In mid-July, members of Congress were told not to travel to attend the event in Milwaukee.[45]

At the announcement of the downsizing it was declared that Biden would accept his nomination in Milwaukee.[43] It was later announced on July 30, 2020 that his running mate would also accept her nomination in Milwaukee.[46] However, on August 5, 2020, it was announced that Biden no longer planned to travel to Milwaukee to accept his nomination, and would instead do so from a location in Delaware.[47][48] It was also announced then that the other scheduled speakers, including Biden's running mate, will also be addressing the convention remotely.[47][49] This is seen as, effectively, moving to make the convention nearly entirely held virtually.[49] This will be the first time that a major party presidential candidate has accepted their nomination remotely since Franklin D. Roosevelt did so in 1944.[50]

The convention was first shrunk to only feature 5,000 attendees in its Milwaukee hub venue.[35] It was later further shrunk to only feature 1,000 attendees there.[35] It was further shrunk to only include 300 people, including both attendees and media granted access.[51] If not granted exception from the Milwaukee Health Department, under the department's current order the total number of people permitted to gather at the Milwaukee convention hub will be capped at 250 people.[52][53] It has been recognized as a possibility that the Wisconsin Center will almost only admit production crew.[54]

While speakers will not be traveling to Milwaukee, it is still planned for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez and Secretary of the Democratic National Committee Jason Rae (also Secretary of the convention) to be in Milwaukee.[55][56]

The Wisconsin Center will be used for the convention's broadcast and production.[57] It will act the control room and "hub" of the convention production.[58] The Wisconsin Center will also be the location from which the convention will be gaveled in and out every night.[55] The convention will see a mix of pre-recorded segments and live broadcasts from sites across the United States.[50] The convention organizers have stated that they have designated a custom video control room designed to handle hundreds of feeds from across the country, in order to accommodate the remote speeches.[47][59] The Wisconsin Center will see limited other activity, with a number participants from Wisconsin using the convention center as a venue for their participation in the convention.[60] Speakers from Wisconsin will deliver their speeches in the venue.[60] Convention Secretary Jason Rae will direct the roll call from the venue.[60]

The downsizing has led the convention organizers to need far fewer volunteers than the 15,000 they had originally been recruiting to have.[61]

The owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Fiserv Forum has threatened to sue the Democratic Party, which is refusing to pay the full rent on the abandoned venue.[62]

Health protocols

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a number of protocols have been put in place.

Participants attending the event at Wisconsin Center will be required to self-quarantine for at least 72-hours before arriving, wear personal protective equipment, undergo daily COVID-19 testing, partake in symptom tracking through a daily questionnaire, avoid bars and restaurants, and follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.[63]

Security

As is routine for a major party convention, the event has been designated a National Special Security Event.[64] Originally, the United States Department of Justice was to provide $50 million in security, but this was decreased to $40 million.[65]

The boundaries of the planned security footprint, in which increased security measures will be implemented, but in which individuals not attending the convention (including demonstrators) will still be permitted, was announced in January 2020. The streets marking the boundary of the announced footprint will be Cherry Street on the north, 10th Street on the west, Clybourn Street, and Water Street on the east.[66][67]

On July 24, 2020, the Milwaukee Common Council passed an ordinance that would ban a long list of items from the security footprint, including air rifles, nunchucks, drones, containers of bodily fluids, glass bottles, and coolers.[68]

A fenced perimeter will be erected surrounding the convention venue.[67]

Originally, the city originally budgeted to have approximately 3,000 law enforcement officers from outside the city assist the Milwaukee Police Department during the convention.[65] This was decreased to approximately 2,000.[65] By late July there were anticipated to be only 1,100 officers from outside the city assisting the department.[69] However, in late July, more than 100 police agencies announced that they would be withdrawing from their contracts to provide personnel to aid in security during the convention after the Milwaukee police chief announced that their department would restrict the use of tear gas and pepper spray by law enforcement during demonstrations and protests.[70] The Wisconsin National Guard now plans to provide hundreds of members to help with security.[71]

Programming

While the primary purpose of political conventions is, and always was, to decide who the nominees for president and vice president are to be, the secondary purpose was always that of socializing.[72] Entertainment is also a major element of the event, which in the past has included a house band for the main venue, theater, culinary experiences,[73][74] and hundreds of motivational speakers. Indeed, the convention experience for attendees at the venue itself is extremely different from that for the viewer at home. With live coverage of the event limited, outside of the three major news networks and C-SPAN, to the keynote and acceptance speeches, the challenge to the DNC is how to boost ratings while increasing the nominee's lead in opinion polls. With social distancing still paramount to ensure the safety of the tens of thousands of people who were due to attend the main venue in Milwaukee, will not be able to do so, alternative methods are planned for a series of satellite venues across the country.[43]

The official theme of the convention will be "Uniting America".[75]

The downsizing and coronavirus concerns also mean the convention will not see the festive balloon drop often seen at such conventions following the presidential candidate's acceptance speech.[76] First appearing at the 1932 Republican National Convention, a balloon drop would later reappear at the 1956 Republican National Convention, and would become a staple of most major party conventions held since.[77] However, not all Democratic conventions have featured balloon drops. Most recently, both the 2008 and 2012 Democratic National Conventions did not see balloon drops, due to the fact that the final night of the 2008 edition was held outdoors in a stadium, and due to the fact that the final night of the 2012 edition had originally been scheduled to be held outdoors before being moved indoors.[77] Other Democratic conventions that went without balloon drops included the 1984 and 1988 editions.[77]

Satellite locations

When party officials concluded that the pandemic would make a traditional convention impossible, they decided to adopt a format that was dramatically different from past conventions. The event has been officially dubbed a "Convention Across America".[43][75]

While the convention will be anchored in Milwaukee, the events will be held in a dozen or so satellite sites spread out across the nation. From there, the delegations will transmit their votes on the floor of the Wisconsin Center, where a representative will announce the votes to relevant officials at the chair in the main venue.[78]

Platform

In April, shortly after Sanders endorsed Biden, the two created a "Unity task force" to draft a version of the party platform.[79]

Due to the virus, the method of drafting the platform changed radically. A page was set up in which testimony from the general public might be taken.[80]

The Platform Drafting Committee Chair is Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

The Platform Standing Committee includes a number of Party Leaders and Elected Officials appointed by the DNC:[81]

Drafting process

Public hearings were live-streamed on the DNCC’s YouTube channel during the week of July 1 on the following topics:[82]

  • Monday, June 29 from 5-8pm ET: Addressing the COVID-19 Health Crisis and Building Back Better
  • Wednesday, July 1 from 5-8pm ET: A Vision for a More Equitable Future
  • Thursday, July 2 from 5-8pm ET: Restoring the Soul of America

The full Platform Drafting Committee met on July 15 and July 27,[83] where they submitted a finished product[84][85] to be voted on via the internet from August 1–15.

Platform provisions

The Biden/Sanders platform task force issued its 110-page report on July 9.[86]

Ratification

Ratification of the platform is pending.

Over 700 delegates, largely from Bernie Sanders' camp, have signed a statement vowing to vote against the platform if it doesn't include a plank supporting universal, single-payer Medicare for All.[87]

Convention leadership

Joe Solmonese, former president of the Human Rights Campaign, was named convention CEO in March 2019.[88]

Congressman Bennie Thompson will serve as the Permanent Chair of the convention.[56][89]

Permanent Co-Chairs will be Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, congressman Tony Cárdenas of California, Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.[56][90]

The convention's vice-chairs will be Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, former congressman Tony Coelho of California, congresswoman Sharice Davids of Kansas, Lieutenant Governor of Michigan Garlin Gilchrist, congresswoman Donna Shalala of Florida, congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin Mandela Barnes, and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Kate Marshall.[56][90]

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will serve as honorary chairs.[56][90]

The convention's sergeant-at-arms will be congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin.[90][91]

Jason Rae will act as secretary of the convention.[56]

The convention's parliamentarians will be House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Helen McFadden, Sarah Merkel, and State Senator Yvanna Cancela of Nevada.[56]

Programming will be overseen by Ricky Kirshner.[43][92] In addition, Stephanie Cutter holds the formal position of Program Executive.[75]

Nominating and balloting

Pre-convention delegate count

The table below reflects the presumed delegate count as per the 2020 Democratic primaries.

As of July 2020, the following overall number of pledged delegates is subject to change, as possible penalty/bonus delegates (awarded for each state scheduled election date and potential regional clustering) may be altered.[93]

Candidates who have suspended their campaigns without having received any pledged or superdelegate endorsements, as well as those who've suspended their campaigns and subsequently lost their endorsements to other candidates, are not included in the table below.

Pre-convention delegate count
Candidate Pledged delegates[93][94]
Joe Biden 2,627
Bernie Sanders 1,073
Elizabeth Warren 63
Michael Bloomberg 59
Pete Buttigieg 21
Amy Klobuchar 7
Tulsi Gabbard 2
Total delegate votes 4,753

Presidential and vice presidential balloting

In an email, DNC Secretary Jason Rae wrote to delegates outlining the process for that year's convention, noting that the planning committee "concluded that state delegations should not plan to travel to Milwaukee and official convention business will be conducted remotely."

Delegates vote remotely using a system the planning committee crafted that allows them to cast their ballots via email, with unique identifiers for security. The DNC had plans to certify each delegate.

The party said delegates will be able to fill out the forms electronically, with no need for a printer or physical copy, according to the letter. The ballot, which includes questions about platform planks and the party's nominees, will be emailed to their state's committee. Once a state party has all the ballots from their delegation, the state delegation's chair "will submit a tally sheet to the Secretary's Office that formally records the number of votes cast on each item of convention business," The votes will be counted all at once on August 15, not as they come in.

Voting began August 3 and will end August 15, when the state delegation chairs are asked to submit their final tallies to the DNC secretary. That means the party will know the tally of votes for its nominee before the four-day convention formally kicks off on August 17.[95][96]

As part of the televised festivities, Sen. Sanders' name will be put into nomination as well as the former Vice President's and his delegates will vote for him.

Schedule

Each night of the convention will last two hours. In addition to the convention's overall official theme of "Uniting America", each night will have an official sub-theme of its own.[75]

The convention will be gaveled in and out every night from Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee.[55]

August 17, Monday

9:00-11:00pm EDT[97]

Theme: "We the People"[75]

  • Opening ceremonies[56]
  • Committee reports:[56][98]
    • credentials: yea: nay:
    • rules: yea: nay:
    • platform: yea: nay:

Confirmed speakers:

Speaker Position/notability Location Notes Cite
Jim Clyburn House Majority Whip TBA [99]
Andrew Cuomo Governor of New York TBA [99]
Doug Jones United States Senator from Alabama TBA [99]
Amy Klobuchar United States Senator from Minnesota; candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination TBA [99]
Catherine Cortez Masto United States Senator from Nevada; Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee TBA [99]
Gwen Moore United States Congresswoman from Wisconsin Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin [60][99]
John Kasich Former Governor of Ohio (Republican); candidate for the 2000 and 2016 Republican presidential nominations TBA [99]
Bennie Thompson United States Congressman from Mississippi and permanent chairman of the convention TBA [99]
Michelle Obama Former First Lady of the United States TBA [99]
Gretchen Whitmer Governor of Michigan TBA [99]
Bernie Sanders United States Senator from Vermont; candidate for the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential nomination TBA [99]

August 18, Tuesday

9:00-11:00pm EDT[97]

Theme: "Leadership Matters"[75]

  • Presidential candidate nominating and seconding speeches[56]
  • Roll call vote for the presidential nominee[56][98][99]
Democratic presidential nomination ballot[100]
Candidates
Joe Biden
Bernie Sanders

Abstain[101]
 Alabama
 Alaska
 American Samoa
 Arizona
 Arkansas 0
 California
 Colorado
 Connecticut
 Delaware 23
Democrats Abroad 0
 Washington, D.C.
 Florida
 Georgia
 Guam
 Hawaii
 Idaho 0
 Illinois
 Indiana
 Iowa
 Kansas 0
 Kentucky 0
 Louisiana 0
 Maine
 Maryland 84
 Massachusetts
 Michigan
 Minnesota
 Mississippi
 Missouri
 Montana
 Nebraska 0
 Nevada
 New Hampshire 0
 New Jersey
 New Mexico 0
 New York
 North Carolina
 North Dakota
 Northern Marianas 0
 Ohio
 Oklahoma 0
 Oregon
 Pennsylvania 0
 Puerto Rico 0
 Rhode Island
 South Carolina
 South Dakota 0
 Tennessee
 Texas 0
 Utah 0
 VermontCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). 0 0 1[102]
States and territories 1[103]
Total delegates 2842 1865 56


The traditional roll call of the states will be done remotely from each of the 57 delegations, including all 50 states and seven additional territories/jurisdictions.[104] Organizers anticipate that it will last 30 minutes.[105]

Confirmed speakers:

Speaker Position/notability Location Notes Cite
Jill Biden Spouse of the presidential nominee and former Second Lady of the United States TBA [99]
Lisa Blunt Rochester United States Congresswoman from Delaware TBA [99]
Bill Clinton Former President of the United States TBA [99]
John Kerry Former Secretary of State and the party's 2004 presidential nominee TBA [99]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez United States Congresswoman from New York TBA [99]
Chuck Schumer United States Senate Minority Leader TBA [99]
Sally Yates Former acting United States Attorney General TBA [99]
TBA Keynote address [99]

August 19, Wednesday

9:00-11:00pm EDT[97]

Theme: "A More Perfect Union"[75]

  • Vice presidential nomination and acclamation[56][98]

Confirmed speakers:

Speaker Position/notability Location Notes Cite
Hillary Clinton Former United States Secretary of State and the party's 2016 presidential nominee TBA [99]
Tony Evers Governor of Wisconsin Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin [60][99]
Gabrielle Giffords Former United States Congresswoman from Arizona and a prominent gun control advocate TBA [99]
Michelle Lujan Grisham Governor of New Mexico TBA [99]
Barack Obama The 44th President of the United States TBA [99]
Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the United States House of Representatives TBA [99]
Elizabeth Warren United States Senator from Massachusetts; candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination TBA [99]
Kamala Harris Nominee for vice president, United States Senator from California TBA Vice presidential nomination acceptance speech [99]

August 20, Thursday

9:00-11:00pm EDT[97]

Theme: "America's Promise"[75]

Confirmed speakers:

Speaker Position/notability Location Notes Cite
Tammy Baldwin United States Senator from Wisconsin Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin [60][99]
Cory Booker United States Senator from New Jersey; candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination TBA [99]
Pete Buttigieg Former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana; candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination TBA [99]
Chris Coons United States Senator from Delaware TBA [99]
Keisha Lance Bottoms Mayor of Atlanta TBA [99]
Tammy Duckworth United States Senator from Illinois TBA [99]
Gavin Newsom Governor of California TBA [99]
Joe Biden Nominee for president, former Vice President of the United States TBA site in Wilmington, Delaware Presidential nomination acceptance speech [47][99][106]

In addition, members of the Biden family will speak on the 20th.[99]

Speakers and other events

In the past, hundreds of people have addressed each convention, giving many local or statewide candidates a valuable photo op.

With that in mind, some of the many others reported in the press, according to sources familiar with plans for the convention, as planned to speak include Virginia House of Delegates member Danica Roem.[107]

In addition to Kasich, a number of other Republicans are reported to speak during the convention. Among the Republicans being reportedly courted to speak are those with national security expertise, as the convention organizers are reported to be planning to devote a segment of the convention to foreign policy and feature such speakers along with others who are well-known military veterans.[107]

On August 10, 2020, in a press release, convention organizers unveiled a number of the names of individuals who would speak at the convention. None of these names were of officeholders or celebrities, and were instead everyday Americans.[105][108] A number of these speakers will be disaffected Republicans, including individuals who had voted for Trump in 2016, but plan on voting for Biden in 2020.[105][109]

A tribute to the late congressman John Lewis who died in July of 2020, will be shown during the convention, created by Dawn Porter.[98]

Caucus meetings and other events will be streamed on various platforms earlier on the days of the convention.[97]

It is unclear if the spouse of the vice presidential nominee will speak.[citation needed] In 2016, Anne Holton, wife of vice presidential nominee Senator Tim Kaine, did not speak.[110][better source needed] It is also unclear whether Biden's children will speak such as Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden.[citation needed] In 2016, Chelsea Clinton, daughter of presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, did speak.[111]

Demonstrations and protests

It is anticipated that there will be demonstrations and protests held outside of the convention, with several groups having scheduled protests in Milwaukee during the convention.[68] Ryan Hamann, co-chair of the "Coalition to March on the DNC" has stated that his coalition's planned protests will focus on police reform, in effect being a continuance of the nationwide George Floyd protests.[112]

On August 2, the City of Milwaukee reported that very little interest had been indicated by parties in seeking permits to either organize a downtown parade or a speech in a downtown park.[113]

Club Kids Inc. is scheduled to hold a permitted parade in Milwaukee at noon CDT on August 17.[113] The Women's Human Rights Campaign is scheduled to hold a permitted parade in Milwaukee on August 20 at 10 A.M. CDT.[113]

The convention will be slimmed down from previous iterations in terms of the length of television programming it will provide, with only two hours of televised events taking place on each night of the convention.[114] Domestic 24-hour cable news channels will broadcast both hours, but "Big Three" domestic television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) will only broadcast the last hour.[106][115] In contrast, for past conventions, domestic 24-hour cable news channels broadcast wall-to-wall coverage of day-long proceedings.[116] However, the length of prime time coverage provided by the "Big Three" domestic television networks was also one hour per night during the Democratic and Republican conventions of 2016.[116][115]

In addition to the main convention broadcast, other media coverage opportunities will be made available to the press by the convention organizers and the Biden campaign, including remote press briefings and interviews.[47]

Broadcasters are planning to both pool their resources and shrink their footprints at the convention.[51] The convention organizers plan to work with both the network pool and the congressional press galleries to establish pooled media opportunities.[47] There is expected to be more a reliance by broadcasters on footage from press pool cameras than at past conventions.[76] Broadcasters plan to rely on the same shared camera feed of the convention's stage.[51][117] As with past conventions, the convention organizers will make a feed of convention proceedings available for free to media organizations.[47][59]

Unlike past conventions, most broadcasters will not be sending correspondents to the convention site, instead planning to film their reporters at remote sites.[51][114][115] Those reporters that do go to the convention will socially distance, and, at least at times, report from outside of the convention hall.[51] Instead, most broadcasters are reportedly planning to have their correspondents provide coverage from network studios in New York City and Washington, D.C.[114][115] In addition to filming their correspondents off-site, most broadcasters are also planning to use their primary control rooms in their headquarter cities, as opposed to the practice of establishing temporary control rooms in the convention city as many had for past conventions.[76]

After the downsizing, but before it was announced that Biden and other speakers would no longer travel to Milwaukee, many broadcasters had already been substantially scaled-back plans to send reporters to the city, or had planned to forgo sending reporters to the city altogether.[51][114] By July 29, Fox News was the only broadcaster confirmed to be sending correspondents to the convention hall itself.[114] As of early July, MSNBC had still planned a "light footprint" in the city Milwaukee, but planned to position the reporters they do send outdoors, where they can socially distance from each other, instead of inside the convention venue.[117] CNN also, as of early August, still planned to send reporters to Milwaukee.[118] As of early August, CBS News was planning to send two correspondents to Milwaukee.[118] In addition, after the downsizing, but before it was even that Biden and other speakers would no longer be traveling to Milwaukee, broadcasters had already planned to significantly decrease the size of crews they would send to capture the convention in comparison to previous years.[76] CNN had already canceled its original plans to operate a "CNN Grill" studio and meeting space, similar to those it had operated at every major party convention since 2004. They had originally planned to use Turner Hall for such a space.[119] Fox News, on the other hand, before the announcement that Biden and other speakers would not be traveling to the convention, still planned to retain their plans to utilize the Deer Camp building in Milwaukee as a broadcast space,[117] and CBS News still planned to rent the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center for broadcast use.[118]

The originally-planned full-scale convention in the Fiserv Forum would have seen broadcasters set up live sets inside the arena, similar to those in this image of the 2016 Democratic National Convention

While the originally-planned full-scale convention in the Fiserv Foum would have seen broadcasters set up live sets inside the arena, as has been practice at past conventions, it is unclear whether there will be any similar setup inside the Wisconsin Center.[117] Before the announcement that speakers would no longer be traveling to Milwaukee, convention organizers had been setting up both indoor and outdoor news media spaces at the Milwaukee convention hub.[55][118]

The Wisconsin Center will be used for the convention's broadcast and production.[57] The Wisconsin Center will act as the control room and "hub" of the convention production.[58] The convention organizers have stated that they have designated a custom video control room designed to handle hundreds of feeds from across the country, in order to accommodate the remote speeches.[47][59]

In addition to coverage by broadcasters, there will a stream broadcast by the DNC itself on fifteen platforms. These platforms will be the convention's website, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft Bing, Apple TV, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, AT&T U-verse, DirectTV, Comcast Xfinity X1, Comcast Xfinity Flex, and Amazon Alexa.[47][59][106][120]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The overall number of pledged delegates is subject to change as possible penalty/bonus delegates (awarded for each states scheduled election date and potential regional clustering) are not yet included.
  1. ^ Originally scheduled to be held on July 13–16, but now rescheduled to be held on August 17–20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

References

  1. ^ "How to Win the Democratic Nomination, and Why It Could Get Complicated". New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
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