Democrats, who are ready to formally nominate presumed nominee Joe Biden in a few weeks, announced a preliminary schedule for the four-day national convention on Wednesday night.
Biden is expected to deliver his Milwaukee acceptance speech on Thursday, the last night of the convention, which is scheduled for August 17-20.
His vice presidential candidate, expected to be announced ahead of the meeting, will be nominated on Wednesday, before addressing party supporters from a location yet to be announced.
An opening speech will be set for Tuesday, the same night that the nomination and kidnapping speeches of presidential candidates, and the delegates, who will not be in the convention hall after being told not to, will take place. traveling to Milwaukee, they will nominate Biden by a roll-call vote.
The mostly virtual festivities of the party will begin on Monday with opening ceremonies and a selection of speakers, to be announced at a later date. The results of the votes in the reports of each of the three standing committees of the convention (rules, platform and credentials) will also be announced on Monday, including voting on the party’s platform.
Party officials decided to move the ballot vote to a remote process over a two-week period before the convention, from August 3 to 15, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Convention planners also released leaders who have been asked to serve as permanent officers for the convention, including the honorary presidents of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and the minority leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer; and Representative Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the permanent president of the convention. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy; Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill .; Senator Tom Carper, D-Del.; Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett; Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms; and Representative Tony Cárdenas, a Democrat from California, will all serve as permanent co-chairs.
Both Duckworth and Bottoms are being considered as Biden’s running mate.
Senator Bob Casey, D-Penn .; Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan .; Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla .; former representative Carol Shea-Porter, DN.H .; Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin Mandela Barnes; Nevada Lieutenant Governor Kate Marshall; Lieutenant Governor of Michigan Garlin Gilchrist; and former Rep. Tony Coelho, D-Calif., will all serve as vice presidents. Rep. Gwen Moore, who represents Milwaukee in Congress, will serve as sergeant-at-arms.
Both the calendar and the list of officers were presented to the convention’s rules committee for ratification on Thursday.
Convention organizers also released a more comprehensive list of daytime activities, including virtual caucus and party council meetings for delegates and party bases, to be held during the course of the convention.
“We look forward to a historic convention anchored in Milwaukee, and through the leadership of permanent officers who will help oversee this convention, Democrats will unite to continue work to elect Joe Biden as the next President of the United States.” DNC President Tom Pérez said. “We have exciting programming over the course of four nights as we seek a better future for all Americans and unite around our shared values and Joe Biden’s vision of a better and safer future for the country.”
This is just the next in a series of announcements for a reunion that was once hoped to fuel a hotly contested primary season by showing the party’s unity with an initially ambitious event that has since been completely transformed by the coronavirus.
While Biden still intends to accept the Milwaukee party nomination at the largely virtual convention, this year’s event will be a marked departure from the usual show, a crowd of 50,000, and boisterous debates on the convention floor.
Biden’s coronation will mark the formal start of the general election, but the former vice president is set to take the stage in front of a room without delegates or members of Congress, who were ordered not to attend the convention in person.
For those planning to be in Milwaukee, the drastically reduced meeting will feature daily COVID-19 tests, periods of self-isolation before entering the convention hall, and mask requirements, with other highly recommended personal protective equipment.
Democrats previously postponed the event from July to August to give planners more time to adjust to a pandemic reality. As the coronavirus continued to spread, organizers announced that the convention will include in-person appearances “anchored” in Wisconsin, as well as virtual components of satellite locations across the country.
Party officials also decided to move the Fiserv Forum convention, home of the Milwaukee Bucks, to Central Wisconsin, a smaller venue just a few blocks away. Many details of the party’s signature event will still be announced, including the size of the crowd anticipated to be in Milwaukee, and officials will be guided by the state of the outbreak and advice from public health experts.
Unlike their Republican counterparts, Democrats decided more than a month ago to switch to the largely virtual convention, as President Donald Trump scrambled plans for the Republican event more than once.
After Trump forced the Republican National Convention to move his celebration out of North Carolina due to a tense confrontation with Governor Roy Cooper over security restrictions, he abruptly canceled the fanfare expected for his speech in Jacksonville, Florida, last week. – presenting his decision as motivated both by security concerns and the mood of the country. His decision came after months of minimizing the virus and as cases increased in Jacksonville and throughout Florida.
Republican delegates are still ready to meet in Charlotte, North Carolina, to conduct official business for their convention, including the formal nomination of the president, and new plans for Trump’s acceptance speech will be announced “fairly soon.” he said, not ruling out whether the White House could serve as a backdrop.
Democrats now face renewed pressure to safely host a celebratory event in a state that is seeing growing cases of the virus. On Wednesday, Wisconsin reported more than 51,000 confirmed cases and a death toll of nearly 1,000.
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