The 2020 Democratic National Convention could dramatically change the way parties coronate their presidential picks in the future — if organizers can pull it off.
Democrats this week are hosting the first largely digital convention in history to crown presumptive 2020 presidential nominee Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, his running mate, as their standard-bearers to take on President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in the fall.
The four-day logistical feat, starting Monday, will showcase live and recorded speeches from the 2020 ticket, as well as from Democratic stalwarts such as former President Barack Obama to far-left insurgents such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to ordinary rank-and-file members.
Celebrity emcees Eva Longoria, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kerry Washington, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus will weave together the two hours of prime-time programming Aug. 17-20 from 9-11p.m. EST, centered around a different theme each night. Performers, including John Legend, Billie Eilish, Jennifer Hudson, and The Chicks, will also provide musical interludes for those who tune in.
Yet while Democrats are busy boosting their lineup, their schedule is in stark contrast to their original plan, which was expected to draw more than 50,000 people to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the party to announce earlier this year it was postponing its convention by four weeks. Then, this month, it had to scrap its contingency proposal for a partially virtual confab as coronavirus cases in the Midwest rose.
Moving the convention online has prompted both Democratic and Republican strategists to question whether this cycle’s gathering will establish a precedent going forward. Conventions are an expensive, outdated exercise, some argue. And with the nominations usually wrapped up before the events take place, viewership has dwindled, others say.
North Carolina GOP member and Hornets Nest Republican Men President Dan Barry told the Washington Examiner the COVID-19 outbreak had pushed party faithful to step back and reconsider convention formats.
“Through Zoom and other virtual platforms, COVID has unleashed a new tool, which is impacting many parts of our lives and institutions,” he said. “For political parties to remain relevant, they must adapt to this new paradigm. Parties must use these tools to become efficient in order to become effective.”
Lis Smith, former communications adviser to vanquished 2020 Democratic White House candidate Pete Buttigieg, offered a forceful assessment.
“I heard Nancy Pelosi talking about how we needed to have an in-person convention because it reminded her of how excited she was in 1960 seeing John F. Kennedy,” Smith said in the spring. “Well, guess what? It’s 2020, it’s not 1960.”
Smith panned typical conventions as “the TV equivalent of Ambien,” urging Democrats to ditch “hours and hours of talking points-driven, prime-time speeches.” Instead, she vouched for musical performances, comedy sketches, panel discussions, and interviews.
Pelosi had initially suggested the convention be squeezed into a single day, bringing together a limited number of attendees at an outdoor stadium so they could remain physically distanced. Around the same time, Biden floated the idea of a two-day version for 5,000 people.
But others aren’t so sure regarding the long-term ripple effects of this convention.
On a day-to-day basis, the Biden campaign routinely encounters technical snafus, which doesn’t bode well for the proceedings.
“Am I on?” Biden often asks.
Tom Cochran, a partner at public affairs firm 720 Strategies and former Obama White House new media technologies director, believed the 2020 convention would alter iterations to come. He just didn’t think all traditions would be lost forever.
“Firing up a crowd can’t be done online, it’s just not the same. If anything, maybe there will be an extension of in-person conventions to incorporate more virtual participation,” Cochran said.
Presidential historian David Pietrusza agreed.
“Phonograph records were invented in 1877, but people still go to concerts. Or, at least, did,” he told the Washington Examiner.
For Pietrusza, people like to connect, and politicians need to network.
“What transpires in the corridors and the backrooms and restaurants often generates the most value in a convention or any human gathering,” he said.
Pietrusza added, “While it’s difficult in this trifecta of technological change, pandemic, and unbridled ignorance to posit the survival of any of our institutions in their present form, human nature remains remarkably constant.”
