The first presidential convention that is held in a virtual way can be described as a true experiment. The coronavirus pandemic prevented the traditional mass gathering, and transformed the meetings and interventions into videoconferences and online broadcasts.
For the main schedule of this first day, which runs from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. these are five things that are worth following:
Five Featured Speakers at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, left to right: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders; the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo; former first lady Michelle Obama and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.NBC News
1. Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama in primetime
Speeches from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, and former First Lady Michelle Obama will air tonight. Governors for New York, Andrew Cuomo, and for Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, will also speak by video conference.
[Follow here the coverage of the 2020 elections]
Some of the interventions will be live and others were previously recorded.
2. How will Sanders take advantage of his intervention?
Sanders' last participation in a convention is remembered by the protest of hundreds of his delegates who left the meeting upset by his defeat to Hillary Clinton in 2016, accusing unfair treatment by the party.
Democratic National Convention prepares virtual events and official nominations of Biden and Harris
Aug. 17, 202002: 19This time there is no place to leave, but tension remains between some progressives who were disappointed that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (will speak Tuesday) was given just one minute in the schedule while they were offered time to intervene. ex-republicans like Michael Bloomberg.
It will be interesting to see how Sanders will use his space. Whether he will push Biden to support his ideas, like Medicare for All, or whether he will focus on how much the party has embraced his proposals or the work he feels still needs to be done.
[This is how Bernie Sanders wants to boost the Latino vote]
3. Governors and COVID-19
The coronavirus will be the central theme of the interventions of two governors who have had to face the crisis. Cuomo and Whitmer have also faced Donald Trump several times, so it will be a time when frontal attacks on the current president and the way in which he has addressed the pandemic can be seen.
4. Michelle Obama on stage
Former first lady Michelle Obama on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, in a video screenshot of the virtual event on August 17, 2020.
Perhaps the main figure tonight will be former first lady Michelle Obama, who despite the desire of several Democrats to see her as a candidate for the presidency, has remained on the sidelines of the political dispute.
It is expected to be the moment of greatest interest in this convention, second only to the interventions made by Barack Obama, on Wednesday, and Joe Biden, on Thursday.
[Michelle Obama suffers from a "mild degree of depression" due to racism and the coronavirus]
5. A Republican in the Democratic Convention
John Kasich hoped to participate in the convention but in that of the Republican party, accepting the nomination as a candidate for the presidency. However, after losing the primary school, he broke with the party and became one of the founders of the "Never Trump" movement.
The participation of former members of the rival party is a tradition at the conventions and the invitation to Kasich seeks to attract Republicans and independents not convinced to vote for the current president.
However, some Democrats did not like the idea of giving a Republican time instead of spending it on future party leaders.
With information from NBC News