There is no modern precedent in American politics for the two parties to stage national conventions with radically different formats in the same year.
But …
There is no modern precedent in American politics for the two parties to stage national conventions with radically different formats in the same year.
But that’s a very real prospect in 2020 and a special challenge for Democrats, who are the party out of power, hold their convention first and unlike the GOP are openly entertaining a heavily “virtual” gathering in August because of the pandemic.
Will a “Milwaukee” convention that is partly, mostly or entirely remote put the party and presumptive nominee Joe Biden at a political disadvantage?
“This is all about how many people you can reach,” said David Axelrod, who was Barack Obama’s chief political strategist and directs the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.
Axelrod outlined several political challenges that could come with a heavily remote Democratic convention: projecting energy around Biden at a time when he has been largely home-bound during the coronavirus pandemic; avoiding the perception that the party is “somehow not as eager to open things up”; and attracting the same kind of viewership for a virtual event that a traditional convention draws.
“Though (Biden has) been in politics for a long time, there’s relatively little information about him (for some voters). A convention with a large TV audience is a chance for him to provide that,” Axelrod said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Biden needs that.”
But he and other Democrats argued that reinventing the national convention, scheduled for the week of Aug.17 in Milwaukee, carries an opportunity for the party as well.
“It’s not just going to be a bunch of politicians bloviating,” Axelrod said. “You’d mix in a lot more creative (content) and music and film, and it could be a much more compelling few hours of programming.”
The political significance of contrasting convention formats may go beyond any differences in viewership. It would also send a message about how Democrats and Republicans view the pandemic.
“You know the contrast will be stark visually,” said the Rev. Leah Daughtry, who was the CEO of the Democratic National Convention in both 2008 and the 2016.
She said a re-imagined pandemic-era convention would signal that Democrats “have adjusted (to the crisis). We recognize people have concerns about their health, their parents’ health, and all is not well in America yet — versus the other side which is just acting like nothing’s happening. That’s a huge opportunity.”
Republicans say the gap between the two gatherings, now scheduled one week apart, will be unflattering to Biden.
“The contrast is going to be extremely clear,” said Rick Gorka, a spokesman for Trump Victory, the joint campaign effort of the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.
“It will be excitement and enthusiasm and energy around President Trump and then a flat, no-impact, quasi-event around Joe Biden, which is the real problem that the Democrats have right now — no energy,” he said. “This is not the candidate that fired up their grassroots.”
With so many unknowns, the 2020 conventions are a bigger election wild card than usual.
National GOP chair Ronna McDaniel reiterated this week that Republicans “will not be holding a virtual convention” and will gather in Charlotte as planned Aug.24-27.
Gorka said that while the pandemic is fluid, “we’re still full steam ahead… President Trump has said he’s a traditionalist and he wants to be there.”
But Democrats are planning for a range of scenarios that include a partly, mostly or fully virtual gathering.
Many party insiders expect a hybrid event, where some but not all delegates will travel to Milwaukee and some but not all speakers will appear before a live audience in the city.
Biden told WISN-TV Wednesday he doesn’t know whether he’ll come to Milwaukee to accept the nomination.
“I hope there is a convention in Milwaukee,” he said.
