Airtime cut in half. A Zoom style background the size of a tennis court. Celebration honks. And most of it won’t even be in the host city.
These are the Democratic National Committee’s current plans for the party convention in four weeks, according to a preliminary ten-page summary for the event obtained by The Daily Beast. Marked for internal use only, the plans feature digital representations of convention attendees seated at distant tables and separated by transparent partitions, a “Convention across America” speech line that is dramatically shorter in length and much more ambitious in scale, and a program that emphasizes former Vice President Joe Biden, the party’s alleged nominee, to a degree rarely seen in national political conventions.
“The 2020 Democratic National Convention is being reimagined to connect with voters across the United States using satellite events from the hanging states that are linked to a convention floor in Milwaukee,” says the gavel, with the goal of positioning Biden “as the right leader for this moment, to pull us out of the crisis, unite, and build toward a kinder, stronger, and better America.”
As expected, the convention, which begins on August 20, amounts to a radical departure from traditional party convention planning, with an emphasis on the digital participation of delegates, speakers, and attendees. Held amid the coronavirus pandemic that has overturned the Democratic primaries since March, the convention will primarily feature speakers, videos, and images broadcast from outside of Milwaukee’s Central Wisconsin, and largely from out of state.
According to the plan, while the convention will feature “core program elements” each night of the convention, one or more of the “core” speakers each night will address the nation from an unidentified “message-based location” in states. rocking around the country.
The current list of speakers, according to those familiar with DNC planning, includes former First Lady Michelle Obama and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders speaking on the first night of the convention, Dr. Jill Biden commenting on the second night, still unnamed running mate speaking on the third night, and finally Biden’s acceptance speech on the last night of the convention. Of them, Biden is currently only expected to speak from the convention status in Milwaukee.
Among the others reportedly expected to speak is Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio, likely on the first night of the convention, with other “surprise” speakers.
For the few who will be on site in Milwaukee, convention stage performances show a reimagined ensemble for the Zoom era, with a 64-panel display for key demographic delegates, dignitaries, and Americans to participate in roll-call voting. .
The list is currently set to be done remotely and live, broadcast from “iconic or message-based locations in 57 states and territories across the United States,” the deck reads, starting from the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama. , the site of “Bloody Sunday” protests against segregation in 1965. In addition to party delegates and high-ranking Democrats, roll call will also be reported by “a variety of voices”, with examples including a DREAMer, a Teamster and the first to respond.
The roll-call vote will conclude with a “great moment of celebration,” according to the gavel, with a surprise musical act, fireworks, and “people in their cars honking horns and flashing lights.”
Katie Peters, director of communications for the Democratic National Convention Committee, told The Daily Beast that Democrats are “exploring all options for hosting an inspiring event that unites the nation around Joe Biden’s vision for the United States. ” Our plans are not yet confirmed and will continue to take shape in the coming weeks as we make adjustments to better protect public health. “
Despite the reduced broadcast time and remote broadcast plan, the DNC is still making a great fundraising move for the reduced convention, which has a budget of $ 20 million, compared to the $ 86 million convention in Philadelphia four years ago.
Even at its smallest price, raising funds for a massive event that is almost entirely digital has proved difficult for the DNC. During normal conventions, top donors can look forward to a luxurious suite near the center of the action, with exclusive events and opportunities to network with likely leaders of the next administration. But the advantages of cutting an important check to the Democratic National Convention Committee are not at stake this year (rubbing your shoulders is almost the opposite of social distancing) and with one month until opening night, the DNCC is still trying to lift $ 8 million north for the convention, according to a Democratic donor who was asked to participate in the event.
Despite the tight budget and air time, some aspects of the convention will continue as they would in a normal election year. Each night of the convention has a generically patriotic theme: “A United States” for the first night, “A Future for All” for the third night, and the convention program still aims to highlight the most important issues of Democratic concerns, including racial justice, violence navy, health care, voting rights and environment.
But the event will remain a jarring contrast to the Republican National Convention to be held the following week in Jacksonville, Florida, although business is usual, although local elected Republicans fear that the party’s biggest party is the election. the loop will amount to a star-studded superprocessor event.
The Democratic convention, meanwhile, will air for just two to three hours a night, instead of the usual six-hour speech, with an emphasis on prerecorded segments, which the DNC says on the cover. It will allow you to “keep the message tight and integrated,” more a mini movie than “a series of long speeches.”
Currently, programming is more candidate-centric than recent conventions, which generally stop at emphasizing the nominee until closing night. Potential moments for the convention, according to the deck, include clips of Biden over the years, with a “framing clip” meant to highlight the theme of the night. There will be a total of five biographical videos about the former vice president, as well as basically commercial prerecorded segments, with Biden “having intimate, unscripted and potentially difficult conversations” with voters about the country’s future.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will be largely relegated to interstitial “contrast” videos, lest the convention become a four-night rule against the president. “Time is better spent talking about what the United States can” be under the experienced and consistent leadership “of the former vice president, according to the DNC plan.
“With the new ‘virtual’ format, viewers are unlikely to tune in night after night to hear Trump criticize,” the gavel states.
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