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MILWAUKEE – In a year of canceled projects, with vacations, graduates and sporting seasons shaken by the coronavirus crisis, the stretch of downtown Milwaukee where Democrats were supposed to hold their nominating convention this week was quiet and spotty populated – another reminder of a lost summer.
Instead of thousands of Democrats preparing to gather at the newly built Fiserv Forum, there was only one street blocked this weekend near Wisconsin’s smaller center, which will host the final games of the Democratic National Convention. – including speeches by politicians from Wisconsin – which will always take place in this city. There was no signage near the place marking the occasion. Hotels were closed, restaurants were empty, and the bars in America’s most beer-loving city were strangely sterile.
“What convention?” said Michaela Jaggi, a 21-year-old who dropped by the Wisconsin Center on Saturday afternoon.
She finally remembered: Joseph R. Biden Jr. was supposed to accept the Democratic presidential nomination here this week. And the Democratic Party, ashamed of not having invested enough in Wisconsin in the 2016 election, had to show its commitment to an all-important constituency state.
This was before the virus crisis forced Democrats to turn their convention into a virtual event, in which none of the major attendees will actually appear from Milwaukee.
“I have spent all these months in my apartment,” Ms. Jaggi said. “I guess it was cool that they came here, but it’s responsible that they aren’t anymore.
Some realities have not changed: The convention, which begins Monday and ends with a speech by Mr. Biden on Thursday night, marks the start of the formal general election between Mr. Biden and President Trump. Mr. Biden’s vice-chair, Senator Kamala Harris of California, will have her largest audience yet, in a speech on Wednesday evening. A who’s who of Democratic Party politics will also be delivering speeches to the nation – including former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Hillary and Bill Clinton.
Aside from the top five speeches by Mr. Biden, his wife Jill Biden, Ms. Harris and the Obamas, the average length of remarks will be just two minutes, convention organizers said. Mr. Sanders will have an eight-minute time slot. He plans to speak live from Burlington, VT, but will pre-record a version if there are technical difficulties. Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Obama are the keynote speakers for the opening night.
For Americans watching at home or on their phones, the convention will provide a unique viewing experience – a combination of this April’s National Football League draft, which played ping-pong from town to town, the “Saturday Night Live at Home” product montages and a political telethon asking viewers to engage and donate to the Biden campaign.
But the virtual nature of the convention is also a reminder that this is an election season like no other. The country, the economy and the election campaign have all been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 170,000 Americans. He also reshaped American daily life and, in politics, voting priorities and access to the polls.
The social and economic damage is particularly evident in Milwaukee, where businesses and residents have invested millions of dollars in preparations for the city’s most anticipated event in decades.
For a community that has long suffered from an inferiority complex, winning the convention over cities like Miami and Houston had served to boost Milwaukee’s civic self-esteem. But now, it’s not hard to find local Democrats depressed over the lost chance to present their city to a national audience and the lost revenue that would be due to an influx of some 50,000 visitors.
Marc Dulberger, a local businessman who said he invested $ 30,000 in different businesses in preparation for this summer’s big event, said the combined loss of revenue from professional sports leagues and the convention had been a personal financial disaster. .
“No brewers, no dollars, no convention,” Dulberger said. “It’s the ghost convention now.”
Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee lamented the loss of an expected economic impact of $ 200 million and said there was “a huge disappointment” that the event is now virtual. Rep. Gwen Moore, longtime Milwaukee Democratic lawmaker, said the combination of the pandemic and the loss of the convention was a “double whammy”.
When representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, president of the convention, gavels in Monday night’s convention, it will represent the culmination of a five-month gradual downsizing, cut from 24 hours out of all to eight hours.
If all goes well, the convention will have the intrigue and excitement of a reality TV contest in which viewers already know who won. But if things go wrong, technical issues could last two very long hours for convention organizers.
“Over the past few months, every time I log into Zoom, something has gone wrong,” said Moore, MP for Milwaukee.
The lite convention will be a mix of live and pre-recorded speeches and highly produced visuals.
There will be a montage featuring the Democratic 2020 presidential candidates, a 30-minute roll call of states (up from over two hours) and – most difficult of all for a political class that enjoys little more than speaking in front of the camera – strict deadlines.
Four of the five main speeches will be delivered live, while Mrs. Obama has already recorded hers. Ms Clinton will address the convention live, her return to the National Party she once led. Mr. Clinton’s remarks will be recorded.
The shorter speeches are the consequence not only of virtual constraints, but also of the lack of applause. And unlike a typical national political rally where the action takes place at festive breakfasts or in the arena halls, the entire Milwaukee event will take place entirely from one control room to inside the convention center.
“There will be a lot less news,” said Elaine Kamarck, a member of the DNC who is the party’s unofficial historian. “My immediate concern is that the productions each night of the convention will be convincing enough to hold audiences.”
Major broadcast networks plan to broadcast an hour of the convention live each evening from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the East Coast. Cable news channels will broadcast the full two-hour debates. There will be an official livestream of the party and the event will also be available on news sites, social media sites and streaming services.
There will be no official business conducted in Milwaukee. The vote to nominate Mr. Biden and approve the platform was conducted by email and ended on Saturday. The only dignitaries who will be on site in Milwaukee for the convention are DNC President Tom Perez and elected officials from Wisconsin who will speak, including Mrs. Moore, Mr. Barrett and Governor Tony Evers.
The most important people at the Wisconsin Center will be the control room operators who will produce the two hours of content each night.
The big donors of the festival, traditionally celebrated with luxury suites, will probably have the most atypical convention. They will look at home like everyone else, without the desired access to governors, senators and other senior party officials.
Alex Lasry, who led the host committee that raised $ 40 million and is the son of Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, had already expected 50,000 visitors to the Fiserv Forum during the event. Now, he said, he’ll watch the convention on one screen and the NBA Playoffs on another, as the Bucks start a playoff series from the league’s quarantined site in Florida.
“I could come in Thursday to watch from the control room,” he said.
Mayor Barrett said the city expected to be reimbursed by the federal government for the more than $ 20 million it spent on congress-related security costs. The city’s police department remains on high alert, Mr Barrett said, for possible protesters outside the convention center, although it is unclear why they would come without the media spotlight. nationals in town.
With no delegates coming to Milwaukee, states parties have sought creative ways to engage supporters. In Boston, Democrats are building a pop-up movie theater to show the festivities at the old Suffolk Downs racetrack.
Jim Roosevelt, a convention attendee since 1960, said delegates asked him over the summer how to best experience the convention.
“The first thing I recommend is that people watching at home act like they’re there,” said Mr. Roosevelt, a member of the Massachusetts DNC. “Book the week as if you were there in Milwaukee and immerse yourself in electronic participation.”
In recent weeks, Milwaukee’s business and political leaders have tried to convince the DNC that the city should be remade in 2024.
Gary Witt, who owns venues in downtown Milwaukee that are said to have hosted concerts and parties, launched a campaign in April to rally the city to pressure the party to return.
“For some people in our town, there is a certain amount of shell shock versus death from a thousand cuts made by the DNC,” said Mr Witt, who expected revenue of $ 750,000. from convention-related events. “If the Democratic Party doesn’t believe enough in bringing hope to a city and needs it more than ever because of the pandemic, if it doesn’t think it’s a good idea, maybe he will because can help them win Wisconsin in 2024. “
Mr Perez said the award of the 2024 convention would be a matter left to Mr Biden or, if Mr Trump wins re-election, the next party chairman.
“I won’t be the chairman of the DNC, OK, in four years,” Mr. Perez said. “So that will be a question for my successor.”
In an attempt to highlight the Democrats’ absence, Mr. Trump and other Republicans are hosting in-person events in Wisconsin this week – the coronavirus is doomed. Democrats hope voters reward their caution and not confuse the desire to take the virus seriously with contempt from voters in Wisconsin.
As Karan Novak, 65, walked her dog in Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon, she lamented that Wisconsinites were being bypassed again by Democrats, as in 2016. But she also said the risk was too great, citing the virus case outbreak in Oklahoma after Mr. Rally Trump’s indoor in Tulsa.
“I don’t think they had any choice but to be careful,” Ms. Novak said, before focusing on a missed opportunity.
“My husband was a great autograph seeker,” she says. “He had such big plans.
Astead W. Herndon reported from Milwaukee and Reid J. Epstein from Washington. Sydney Ember contributed reporting.
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