Driven online, like so much of life, by the pandemic, the Democratic National Convention that is getting underway Monday night will not feature the customary cheers, boos and cascading balloon drops of yore — or, its organizers hope, the dropped Zoom calls of today.
The event, which is nominally being held in Milwaukee, is being streamed and televised from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time. It will feature Michelle Obama, the former first lady, in a leading role, and will offer remarks from an ideologically wide range of speakers who want to turn the page on the Trump era — from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has tried to move the Democratic Party to the left during two runs for president, to several prominent Republicans who will help make the case for Joseph R. Biden Jr. over President Trump.
Christine Todd Whitman, a former Republican governor of New Jersey who was later appointed by President George W. Bush to run the Environmental Protection Agency, will speak. So will Meg Whitman, a major Republican fund-raiser and the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, who ran for governor of California in 2010; Susan Molinari, a former Republican congresswoman from New York; and former Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio, who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
“I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country,” Mr. Kasich will say, in remarks as prepared for delivery. “That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention.”
They will add their names to a lineup of prominent Democrats. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan will speak about the coronavirus, which Mr. Trump has failed to get under control.
“Only a strong body can fight off the virus, and America’s divisions weakened it,” Mr. Cuomo will say, according to prepared remarks. “Donald Trump didn’t create the initial division. The division created Trump; he only made it worse.”
And Ms. Whitmer will praise essential workers — a group she will pointedly say does not include “a president who fights his fellow Americans rather than fight the virus that’s killing us and our economy.
For those keeping track at home, here is the lineup for Monday night, as announced by the Democratic National Convention Committee:
Introduction: the actress Eva Longoria.
Call to order: Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi.
Featured speakers: Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin; Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C.; Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina; Mr. Cuomo; Kristin Urquiza, who lost her father to the coronavirus; Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives; Ms. Whitmer; Christine Todd Whitman; Meg Whitman; Ms. Molinari; Mr. Kasich; Senator Doug Jones of Alabama; Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada; Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; Mr. Richmond; and Mr. Sanders.
Then the main event: Ms. Obama will deliver keynote remarks.
The virtual convention format will test the speakers, since politicians accustomed to giving tub-thumping speeches feed off applause and cheers every bit as much as stand-up comedians feed off laughter. Another big unknown is how big an audience — accustomed to past dispatches from correspondents roving the convention floor — will tune in or log on.
Far more predictable is the president’s reaction to the online anti-Trump pageant. He let loose a new torrent of provocations, misrepresentations and threats, as the convention approached, not merely an effort at self-defense, but an attempt to refocus the camera on himself.
“How many ways are there to say that this is not normal?” asks Peter Baker, our White House bureau chief.
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August 17, 2020 at 11:15PM
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Here is the Democrats’ opening night lineup. - The New York Times
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