US 2020 election: Clintons, Obamas among Democrat ‘royalty’ lining up for Joe Biden presidential nomination convention
A long line-up of Democrat ‘royalty’ will turn out for the most unusual US presidential nomination convention ever.
Hillary and Bill will speak, as will Barack and Michelle. Bernie and Elizabeth will also appear — at least virtually — as part of a long line-up of Democrat royalty in the most unusual US presidential nomination convention ever held.
Next week’s Democratic National Convention, where Joe Biden will formally accept his party’s nomination for president, will be unlike anything seen in US politics.
The convention is technically still being held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but almost nothing will actually happen there. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the speeches will take place around the country, boxed together into a two hour prime time virtual extravaganza over four nights.
Even Biden, the star of the show, will not travel to Milwaukee but will instead accept the nomination from his home in Delaware.
Gone will be the traditional balloons and hoopla in front of a massive frenzied crowd of political junkies.
But the Democrat producers of this made-for-television event plan to make the most of the unusual format, by tailoring the traditionally rambling convention program into a slick two hour nightly format.
In between speeches they will play videos of ordinary Americans telling their stories of why they will vote for Mr Biden ahead of Donald Trump.
Trump converts showcased
There will be a farmer who voted for Trump in 2016 but will now vote for Biden. There is an autoworker from Michigan, a bus driver from Atlanta, a paramedic on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic in Florida.
“There are people from all parts of the country, all walks of life — different professions, different financial situations — all dealing with similar things. It’s really the story of what’s happening across America right now,” Stephanie Cutter, the program executive for the convention, told the Washington Post.
Speakers are being spaced out to try to keep the audience engaged over the four nights.
On the first night, next Tuesday (AEDT) Biden’s former rival Bernie Sanders will give a speech in which he will try to cajole his left-wing followers to vote for a man he accused on the campaign trail of being too moderate.
Stellar speaker line-up
On Thursday (AEDT) the defeated 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton will speak, as will the progressive Senator and former candidate Elizabeth Warren.
Barack and Michelle Obama — still the country’s two most popular political figures — will speak at some point during the week. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who rose to national prominence with his daily coronavirus briefings when the virus was ravaging his state in April, will also speak.
As with previous conventions, Biden will accept his nomination on the final night in a speech which will give him a huge national audience for the first time in this campaign.
Biden will appear with his new Vice Presidential pick, who he is expected to announce this week.
California Senator Kamala Harris and former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice are considered the frontrunners in a field of around six contenders.
The Republican Convention which will be held on the week beginning August 24, the week after the Democrat Convention, will also be largely virtual after the coronavirus outbreak in Florida led the president to cancel plans to accept the nomination in front of a large crowd in Jacksonville Florida.
We have narrowed the Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, to be delivered on the final night of the Convention (Thursday), to two locations - The Great Battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the White House, Washington, D.C. We will announce the decision soon!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
The president will be formally nominated during a one-day event in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 24 by a few hundred delegates casting proxy votes.
Trump now says he is considering giving his nomination speech on August 27 at either the White House or at Gettysburg battlefield, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous address in 1863.
“We have narrowed the Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, to be delivered on the final night of the Convention, to two locations — The Great Battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the White House, Washington, DC,” he tweeted.
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia
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