Unlike so many other major events on the summer 2020 calendar, the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee has not been canceled, but postponed to the week of August 17.
It’s because the Democratic National Committee saw the ability to both focus on health and a covenant they made with Milwaukee to deliver the convention.
“We felt like that really beyond the public health imperative in ensuring we were trying to safeguard the health of folks in Milwaukee as well as the people who would be coming, we really wanted to maintain our ability to anchor this in Milwaukee. We made a commitment to be in Milwaukee, to be in Wisconsin for this,” Joe Salmonese, the CEO of the DNC 2020 committee, told WTMJ’s John Mercure.
He said the most critical step was to make the one-month move to a time they felt would be safe, but would also allow for “all the the hotels and venues that we need.”
“We’d be able to more clearly think through some of the questions: What sort of crowd do we think we would have? How many nights? What would the scope of the program be?”
They certainly don’t have those answers yet, including whether parts of the convention would need to be virtual.
“That’s really going to be a question that’s again guided by public health information.”
When asked about the possibility of a delayed NBA season and a possible Bucks playoff series conflicting with the convention at Fiserv Forum, Salmonese said they could make things work out.
“We’ve been in regular conversation with the Bucks and, of course, (Senior Vice President) Alex Lasry, who has served as our finance chair,” he said.
“In consultation with them, as best as they can tell about their schedule…this window seems like a window that is likely to work in terms of our ability to do to get in, do what we need to do and get out.”
