Democrats delay presidential convention until August, citing coronavirus

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Democrats delay presidential convention until August, citing coronavirus

By Jason Lange

 

FILE PHOTO: Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 11th Democratic candidates debate of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, held in CNN's Washington studios without an audience because of the global coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic Party on Thursday postponed its U.S. presidential nominating convention by a month until August, citing the coronavirus health crisis that has upended daily life and caused many states to postpone their primaries.

 

Democrats will use the convention in Milwaukee - now scheduled for the week of Aug. 17 - to formally pick their nominee to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November election. It had previously been scheduled for July.

 

The pandemic already has forced Democratic front-runner Joe Biden and rival Bernie Sanders off the campaign trail, and more than a dozen states have delayed their nominating contests due to worries about public health risks.

 

"In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds," said Joe Solmonese, chief executive of the Democratic National Convention Committee.

 

The convention will be held in Wisconsin, a state that Trump narrowly won in 2016 and which is seen as a key battleground state for the 2020 presidential contest.

 

Biden on Wednesday called for delaying the convention, speaking in a television interview from what he called a "makeshift studio" in the recreation room of his Wilmington, Delaware, home.

 

Biden, who was vice president under President Barack Obama, currently leads the Democratic nominating contest against Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont.

 

White House medical experts have forecast that even if Americans hunker down in their homes to slow the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, some 100,000 to 240,000 people could die from the disease.

 

Already, some 5,340 Americans have died and over 225,510 cases have been confirmed, according to a Reuters tally.

 

The Republican Party had already planned to hold their nominating convention in August, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

 

Republican National Committee spokesman Rick Gorka said the party was making sure state party organizations had the resources needed for their nomination contests, which are seen as a formality given widespread support in the party for Trump.

 

"We are fully committed to holding the Republican convention in Charlotte as planned and re-nominating President Trump,” Gorka said.

 

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-03

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[jimmybcool]

Wonder how they will choose their candidate?  Biden is the front runner but lacks the number of delegates to have the nomination. And many in the party are worried he isn't capable of representing them on stage against Trump.

 

And Bernie isn't going to get any party nod out of this.  We live in interesting times.

 

[Tug]

Oh I don’t know I think joe will do just fine against trump heck all he has to do is watch trump self destruct.Delaying the convention is a no brainer with the pandemic 

Edited April 3, 2020 by Tug

[Thomas J]

Damn,  I thought that this might be the one opportunity to show that every cloud has a silver lining. 

[Crazy Alex]

My guess is that the DNC can't figure out what to do about their Biden problem. His mind is clearly slipping away. He struggles to fill a high school auditorium. No one really likes him, his followers just hate Trump. Biden has never been right about anything in his life. They've bought themselves some time.

[Jingthing]

20 hours ago, jimmybcool said:

Wonder how they will choose their candidate?  Biden is the front runner but lacks the number of delegates to have the nomination. And many in the party are worried he isn't capable of representing them on stage against Trump.

 

And Bernie isn't going to get any party nod out of this.  We live in interesting times.

 

They can have delayed mail in ballot primaries for the remaining states.

[Jingthing]

  

19 hours ago, Tug said:

Oh I don’t know I think joe will do just fine against trump heck all he has to do is watch trump self destruct.Delaying the convention is a no brainer with the pandemic 

Yep.

 

Biden -- decent solid guy. Gaffes and all, people like him. Even republicans.

 

The incumbent -- blood on his hands for happy talking the pandemic for two months.

Has never governed for the entire country. Only for his minority base.

 

Game set match.

 

That said, given the virus crisis all three finalists, Biden, Bernie, and the incumbent are all at high risk.

 

So I think it would be better for Biden and Bernie to agree to step down and send all their delegates to Michigan Governor Whitmer. I know it won't happen but I think it would be better for the country if it did and of course she would have no problem beating the blood on his hands president either. 

Edited April 3, 2020 by Jingthing