Milwaukee 2020 DNC Is Here: What You Need To Know
MILWAUKEE, WI — The 2020 Democratic National Convention kicks off Monday in Milwaukee with a speaker lineup featuring the party's A-list and presumptive nominees Joe Biden and Kamala Harris formally accepting the party's nomination — in a fully virtual format.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 convention will be unlike any ever held by either major political party in the U.S. Citing safety concerns, organizers are hosting the convention in an all-virtual format. Biden and Harris, as well as every other convention speaker, are staying home.
Instead of a city inundated with a group of top political leaders, delegates, workers, supporters demonstrators and security nearly 50,000 in size, Milwaukee will be host to a convention in name only.
Top Democrats Headline Convention
The 2020 DNC kicks off with speeches by former First Lady Michelle Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders. Governors Andrew Cuomo and Gretchen Whitmer will join Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, Doug Jones and Amy Klobuchar in delivering remarks on opening night.
President Bill Clinton and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez headline the second day of the convention. They will be sharing screen time with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, former presidential candidate John Kerry and others.
On Wednesday, presumptive Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris will deliver her speech accepting the nomination to the DNC guests tuning in across the U.S. Wednesday night's speakers list is headlined by former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
On the final night of the convention, Vice President Joe Biden will accept the Democratic nomination. Biden will also deliver a speech in which he is expected to talk about his vision for uniting the country.
The full schedule for the convention is below:
Convention Day One
Mon. Aug. 17 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. central time
Former First Lady Michelle Obama
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto
Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Rep. Jim Clyburn
Convention Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson
Rep. Gwen Moore
Former Gov. John Kasich
Sen. Doug Jones
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Convention Day Two
Tue. Aug. 18 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. central time
Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
Former Secretary of State John Kerry
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester
Former President Bill Clinton
Former Second Lady Jill Biden
Convention Day Three
Wed. Aug. 19 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. central time
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Gov. Tony Evers
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
Convention Day Four
Thu. Aug. 20 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. central time
Vice President Joe Biden
Sen. Cory Booker
Gov. Gavin Newsom
Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Sen. Tammy Baldwin
Sen. Tammy Duckworth
Sen. Chris Coons
The Biden Family
Milwaukee Was The Big Winner
Milwaukee was named as the site for the 2020 DNC in March 2019, beating out Miami and Houston for the honor.
At the time, DNC Chair Tom Perez called the decision one of the toughest his committee's ever had to make, but ultimately praised the work civic leaders put into their winning bid.
"This wasn't easy. We started out with almost 10 cities, and we narrowed it down to three — three spectacular cities. Miami, Houston and Milwaukee. They had spectacular bids that they put forth. It took us a little longer because we had an enviable dilemma," he said. "While the choice of Milwaukee does not guarantee success, where you hold your convention is a strong statement of our values, and who and what we're fighting for."
At the time, Milwaukee was expected to land a financial windfall from the four-day event, netting between $200 million and $300 million in convention-related revenue throughout the state. That, in part, was due to the expected 50,000 people that were expected to travel to southeastern Wisconsin in the form of workers, delegates and spectators among others.
The Ever-Shrinking DNC
The COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin forced convention organizers to reduce and revamp the convention — though not all at once.
By mid-March, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers ordered all schools shut down, and instituted a Safer At Home order that ended mass gatherings, and curtailed nonessential travel in the state.
At the time, nobody knew how long the pandemic would last. In early April, organizers postponed the convention's July date to its current date in mid-August in hopes of securing an in-person convention later in the year.
In late June, organizers told state delegations to stay home. The news came just as Wisconsin COVID-19 case numbers began their July spike. The convention was moved from the Fiserv Forum — a new 18,000-seat arena built for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2019 — to the Wisconsin Center, a 20-year-old convention center downtown.
On Aug. 5, party leaders announced that Biden would not be coming to Milwaukee after all. DNC officials also said all convention speakers were expected to speak from remote locations.
In its current form, the 2020 DNC will be held almost entirely in a virtual format, with caucus and council meetings held virtually during the day and the party's official program held during a two-hour time slot at night.
What Does The Convention Really Do?
In its in-person form, the 2020 DNC was theoretically going to be a giant celebration with crowds of people packing the convention center as the party showcased its strength and unveiled its vision for the country, energizing voters.
The event is a chance for the party to roll out their top leaders, most influential speakers and up-and-comers in front of a national audience.
The convention itself is the culmination of the 2020 Democratic Party's presidential primaries and caucuses which are held in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories
A predetermined number of delegates from each of the aforementioned jurisdictions will vote to determine the next Democratic nominee for President of the United States in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
The 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses determined a large number of delegates who will have defined roles at the convention. Those delegates are considered "pledged" to a specific candidate who either won or ranked highly in their respective state's primary election.
In addition, there's a smaller chunk of "unpledged" superdelegates who are appointed by party leaders independent of the primary's electoral process.
Under new rules for 2020, the superdelegates are only allowed to vote for a candidate until that candidate has won a majority of the "pledged" delegates.
According to the latest figures, the 2020 DNC will have 3,768 "pledged" delegates and approximately 764 "unpledged" or superdelegates.
This article originally appeared on the Milwaukee Patch
