Democratic convention scales back plans amid coronavirus

When Democrats awarded their 2020 convention to Milwaukee, plans called for a crowd of more than 50,000 delegates, journalists, party officials and VIPs. But as the coronavirus spread this spring and the convention was pushed back to August, the number dwindled.

First to 5,000 attendees. Then, a mere 1,000.

Now, one month before the party is set to gather at a convention site smaller than the one originally selected, officials are expecting the quadrennial event to include as few as 300 people — a number that includes not only attendees but also members of the news media, security personnel, medical consultants and party workers.

Every aspect of the fourday Democratic National Convention, scheduled to begin Aug. 17, has been scaled back from the ambitions set when Milwaukee was named the host city in March 2019. A program of five to six hours of daily speeches, engineered to entertain delegates in the arena and draw heavy television coverage and headlines for Joe Biden and his vice presidential nominee, will be cut down closer to three hours each night. Much of the program is likely to be pretaped videos, according to people familiar with the planning.

On Thursday evening, convention planners sent an email directing all members of Congress and delegates to stay away from the convention, announcing that all party business meetings would be conducted virtually.

None of the Democratic presidential candidates who appeared on a primary debate stage this year have plans to travel to Milwaukee, according to aides, nor do former President Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton, although all said they would do whatever the campaign and party requested.

As of this week, only Biden and Tom Perez, the Democratic National Committee chairperson, are committed to come to Milwaukee, although party officials said the program was still being written. They have even given the event a new slogan to reflect the change: “Convention Across America.”

The event is “anchored” in Milwaukee but much remains uncertain, convention aides said, depending on the spread of the virus and the advice of public health officials. What is clear is that the convention is unlikely to resemble any in political history.

The image of Biden’s primary rivals standing behind him may take place in Zoom boxes on a screen, if it happens at all. The classic photo of the nominee, the running mate and their spouses embracing is certain to be forbidden by social distancing requirements, while schmoozing delegates who would have packed the raucous convention floor will instead be spread out across the country, watching video streams.

The best-case scenario, Democrats familiar with convention planning say now, is a polished program that is a mix of live speeches, pretaped videos and small events held at satellite locations in battleground states and at landmarks across the country. Several officials mentioned this year’s National Football League draft, in which coaches, college stars and the league commissioner appeared live from their homes, as a model.

Democratic officials cautioned that virtually all aspects of the convention remained in flux. Convention planners are consulting regularly with public health officials in Milwaukee and with two epidemiologists brought on staff last month.

But Democrats familiar with convention planning say there is a serious likelihood that high-wattage speakers — a group likely to include Barack and Michelle Obama, the Clintons, former President Jimmy Carter and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont — will address delegates and the nation from satellite locations.

Democrats long ago began scaling back their plans, eventually moving the convention across downtown Milwaukee from Fiserv Forum, the city’s professional basketball arena, to the Wisconsin Center, a modest convention center that typically hosts events like the city’s car show.

ERIC BARADAT/GETTY-AFP The convention was moved from the 17,000-seater Fiserv Forum, above, to a more modest venue in Milwaukee.