TOPLINE
The Democratic National Convention will have disaffected Republican and Trump voters at its four-day event next week, the party announced Monday, a departure from the party’s 2016 high-profile convention Democratic leaders and tried to bridge the divide with the left flank of the party.
Balloons and confetti fall after speech by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton … [+]
KEY FACTS
The convention – scheduled to begin on August 17 and last four days – will include at least two voters who voted for President Trump in 2016 who plan to vote for Joe Biden this year. Washington Post first reported.
Rick Telesz, a Pennsylvania farmer who supported Trump in 2016 but was negatively affected by the president’s trade war, will talk about how he plans to support Biden.
Jeff Jeans, a former Conservative Republican, will discuss how he became a Democrat and Biden supporter after being diagnosed with throat cancer and was protected by the pre-existing conditions of the Affordable Care Act.
Jeans and Telesz will be prominently displayed, as the convention lasts four days each night, as opposed to the usual multiple hours per day format.
The convention will also include former GOP Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Trump critic, and a progressive icon Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), A statement that the party hopes to mark an ideologically diverse coalition against Trump; Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and the New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will also speak.
In 2016, the party focused primarily on showing inter-party unity following a controversial primary battle between Sanders and Clinton, but the party is opting for a larger scale this year.
Key background
The convention was originally set to take place in Milwaukee in July, but was rescheduled and relocated online due to the pandemic. Last week, Joe Biden announced that he would not be traveling to Milwaukee this month to accept the Democratic nomination, and instead will deliver the speech almost from his home in Delaware.
Chief critic
Republicans have criticized Biden for canceling his appearance in Milwaukee, claiming it is further evidence that Democrats do not care about the state. “You’d think that for a party that did not appear four years ago, they learned their lessons and just came up,” said Devin O’Malley, vice president of vice president Pence, the New York Times. After hearing that Biden had thwarted his Milwaukee plans, Pence planned an event in the state on August 19th.
What to see
The Republican Party has yet to release its convention draft.
Tangent
The GOP convention was originally intended to take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was later moved to Jacksonville, Florida, because of Trump’s objections to the state’s health restrictions. The Jacksonville personal event was later scrapped for Covid-19-related reasons, and Trump is now munching on alternative locations to provide his acceptance language.
Continue reading
Democrats will mark every American in their lineup for prime-time convention (Washington Post)
Biden will not go to Milwaukee to accept nomination over concerns about Covid-19 (Forbes)
Kasich and Sanders to join forces for a night of unity at Democratic convention (Politico)
Democrat speakers will show diversity and inclusion of stress (New York Times)
