Democrats looking forward to quadrennial reunions at the party’s 2020 convention may be disappointed.
After weeks of talk about a partially virtual confab, the Democratic National Convention Committee on Wednesday announced its plans for a drastically scaled-back event in Milwaukee from Aug. 17-20 in the smaller Wisconsin Center rather than Fiserv Forum.
Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, will still be coronated as the party’s standard-bearer in Milwaukee, as previously reported. But the Democrats’ decision to host a more subdued affair this cycle amid the COVID-19 outbreak contradicts with Republicans, who this month yanked their convention from North Carolina so President Trump could accept the GOP’s nomination in front of a large crowd.
Under guidance outlined by convention chair Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson and epidemiologists and infectious disease experts Ian Lipkin and Larry Brilliant, state delegations are being discouraged from traveling to Milwaukee.
“A process is being developed to ensure all delegates can cast their votes on all convention matters, including the presidential nomination, remotely during the convention,” a memo circulated Wednesday stated.
Highlighting how the new framework was subject to change, the party also announced Wednesday official in-person sideline events were being nixed as well. Instead, Emmy Award-winning producer Ricky Kirshner will put together a program, including satellite broadcasts, that will be “anchored” from the Midwest city.
“Vice President Biden intends to proudly accept his party’s nomination in Milwaukee and take the next step forward towards making Donald Trump a one-term president,” Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in a statement.
Earlier in June, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel and her party’s convention team canceled the majority of their gathering, set to take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, from Aug. 24-27. While party business will be conducted in Charlotte that Monday, three days of “festivities” will now be held in Jacksonville, Florida, a Republican-governed state with fewer virus-related restrictions.
