With growing cases and fatalities of COVID-19 nationwide, the Democrats decided on April 2 to push back their convention one month.
Originally scheduled July 13 to 16, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wis., the new plan is for the Democratic National Convention to occur Aug. 17 to 20, 2020. On demconvention.com, they lay out what they know right now. “Ensuring the safety of the convention’s host community and all convention-goers has been—and always will remain—the top priority of the Democratic National Convention Committee. As we continue to monitor the unpredictable and unprecedented public health emergency, we remain in constant communication with the local, state, and federal officials responsible for protecting public health and security, and will continue to follow their guidance.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the two Democratic candidates, said Wednesday, April 1, on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, “I doubt whether the Democratic Convention is going to be able to be held in mid-July or early July. I think it’s gonna have to move into August. We just have to be prepared for the alternative; and the alternative, we don’t know what it’s going to be unless we have a better sense of whether this curve is going to move down or up.”
One of the driving forces for postponing it for a month is the fact that so many states have had to cancel and move back election days due to coronavirus and social distancing rules put in place by governors across the United States. To get a full idea of where the party stands in the race between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Biden, they need to have each state and province vote. In a New York Times article titled, ‘Democrats Postpone Convention, and a Test of Wills With Republicans Looms’ by Reid J. Epstein, Katie Glueck and Jonathan Martin, they say, “Democrats know that canceling one of their most prominent events could yield a significant advantage [to] Mr. Trump just two months before the election.” In the same article, it says, “Democratic officials, including Mr. Perez, had hoped and predicted that the party would have a nominee by late April, but with so many states postponing their primaries because of public health concerns about the coronavirus, Mr. Biden cannot clinch the nomination until June at the earliest if Mr. Sanders remains in the race.”
Though former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld is still in the race, seven states—Virginia, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, Nevada, and South Carolina—have forgone legitimate primaries to default to the incumbent, President Donald Trump. The Republican National Convention is still happening Aug. 24 to 27, 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina, right after the Democratic National Convention.
No matter what, this will not be a normal National Convention. It is still planned to be in person though, as the New York Times article states, “ ‘This is the right decision for the safety of those involved in the convention and for Milwaukee,’ said Alex Lasry, a senior official with the Milwaukee Bucks who led the city’s convention bid. ‘An August convention will provide a much-needed economic boost for Milwaukee and Wisconsin as we come out of this unprecedented time.’ ”
Sources:
https://www.demconvention.com/
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/joe-biden-democratic-convention/index.html