Every four years
LIKE LEAP YEAR or the Olympics, conventions to nominate the presidential candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties only roll around every four years. But while the role of national conventions in shaping the country’s political direction is fabled, for the last 50 years the identity of the person who will be bestowed the presidential nomination has not been in doubt.
The last “open” convention (no nominee selected in advance) was in 1968. Since then, speculation about faithless delegates and “runaway” conventions has occasionally grown frothy, but in practice conventions have been highly orchestrated affairs, long on TV scripting and short on drama. Both parties have opted for a red, white, and blue showcase of frenzied supporters poised to kick off the last and most intense weeks of the campaign.
2024 might have been different, but for all of the extraordinary political volatility the summer has delivered, this year’s conventions mostly follow the same script.
In July, delegates to the Republican convention elected Trump/Vance on the first ballot by a vote of 2,388 to 41.
The Democrats left even less to chance. In a five-day period between Aug. 1-5 — nearly three weeks before the start of their convention — a virtual roll call vote of Democratic delegates nominated the Harris ticket with more than 99% of the vote. With the fundamental purpose of the convention already fulfilled, the Democratic event is like one of those post-COVID wedding ceremonies that follow months after an official civil union at the courthouse.
But notwithstanding the fore-ordained outcomes, media attention to the conventions has not wavered. The DNC expects 15,000 members of the media on the ground in Chicago.
The other business of the conventions
With the result of the convention pre-determined, one might well ask what is point of press coverage.
National political conventions serve many interests besides the nomination of candidates. Delegates from all over the country assemble and interact with each other with the camaraderie of burners attending Burning Man. Alcohol is consumed, connections are made, and friendships kindled.
The cottage industry that surrounds the political parties emerges in full flower. The lobbyists, the policy wonks, the fat cats, the union leaders, the political want-to-be’s, used-to-be’s, and someday-will-be’s, are all in circulation.
Regional and constituency caucuses meet every afternoon and discuss the issues. Constituency caucuses are “composed of DNC members who share an inherent or an immutable trait.” (e.g. Black, Hispanic, LGBTQ, Disability, Women’s, and Native American).
There are presentations, discussions, roundtables. For example, the “Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank” will present a forum with the wordy title “The $5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bank Will Reverse the 50-Year Economic Decline.” (The materials explain “The landmark Biden economic legislation … was not large enough to overcome the damage. … The $5 trillion bank will require no new federal spending or taxes, and it can generate a return to the productive economy left behind in 1971.”)
Bernie Sanders is the Keynote Speaker for “Progressive Central 2024,” two days of panels that include “Building a Prosperous Middle-Class Economy with Low-to-No Poverty;” “The People’s Agenda;” and “Progressive Politics are Working Class Politics.”
All* In Action Fund is hosting a DNC “kickoff” reception. All* In describes itself as “a catalyst for abortion justice, committed to building the political power of people of color working to make ends meet.”
Media and members of the pundit class are everywhere. The Annenberg Center on Communications Leadership & Policy hosts a roundtable on “Fake Videos and Election Cybersecurity in the Age of AI.”
Axios is sponsoring two full days of programing. CNN and Politico are hosting “VIP Convention Conversations.” Heather Cox Richardson, the popular historian and political blogger, sent her 1.3 million subscribers an email announcing that she is in the house.
And there is wining and dining: all the opportunistic fun and bonding expected at a national convention with 50,000 people in attendance — and a candidate that jolted them from the doldrums of just a month ago.
Outside the convention perimeter — but allegedly “within sight and sound” of the United Center — there will be organized protests. The Coalition to March on the DNC has been working for months to secure permits for protests and marches in support of Palestine. Its materials say that “Joe Biden and the Democratic Party are responsible for the Israeli genocide against Gaza.” The coalition’s main demand is for the party to “Stand with Palestine. End U.S. Aid to Israel.”
The coalition website identifies as members and supporters 270 activist groups from around the state and the country. Their estimates vary but they predict that tens of thousands of people will attend to protest, including people from 21 states.
In the week leading up to the convention, the coalition sent daily emails to the press advising that it has won the right to set up a stage and sound system in Union Park for speeches and to march on a route several miles closer to the arena than what the city proposed.
But now the coalition says that the city has “tried to pull the rug out from under … some of those gains — saying the stage organizers contracted for is too big.”
The coalition also contends that risers to allow media to better observe the rally in Union Park have been denied by city officials. Media are told it is an attack “on the hundreds of media outlets that want to report on the event. It’s yet another attempt by the city of Chicago to minimize coverage of dissent.” The coalition asks the press to contact the city directly to ensure their rights are protected.
Heading out — with many questions
Covering the Democratic convention is a challenge for a reporter. In a big and rollicking event spread over multiple venues (some miles apart), one can only personally see so much. And yet there is a lot to look for. That means there is a lot of ground to cover, gear to carry, and logistics to manage.
Our reporters have many questions as they head out for Chicago.
All three are interested in how a Harris administration might affect the Bay Area. Policies around social media, AI, climate change, blockchain, and antitrust enforcement will have significant impact back at home. In the Trump era, the Bay Area was a center of resistance to the Republican policies, and yet in recent months several tech billionaires have emerged as major financial backers of the Trump/Vance ticket. How will the tech community respond to Biden’s decision not to run and the new Harris/Walz ticket?
Joe Dworetzky is less excited by the scripted speeches of the politicians on the convention stage than by what the people who are not on the podium are saying and doing. Joe will look to see what the people in the professional class — the lobbyists, executives and trade groups — are up to. He will also be talking to the people on the street who have come to Chicago just to see what is going on. He will be interacting and gathering stories from the protesters and demonstrators who have traveled to Chicago to make their voices heard.
Jay Harris is looking at first things first: whether the “underdog” Harris/Walz campaign can pull off an election victory and protect it from whatever comes after Nov. 5. Jay believes a Democratic victory will necessarily depend on the hundreds of grassroots groups working to energize and turnout Democratic votes.
David Paul believes that the Democratic party has turned its back on the working class in rural parts of the country. It has a chance to seize the magical moment and bring rural workers back into the Democratic fold — but will it?
There is little doubt that Harris has done an extraordinary job in seamlessly grabbing the standard from Biden and launching full tilt into battle. Whether that success is the result of heretofore unappreciated political chops or simply a lot of good fortune remains to be seen.
In 1968, in the thick of the Vietnam War, then-President Lyndon Johnson decided late in the day not to seek a second full term, leaving the question of the party’s standard bearer up in air only months before the convention. Yippies and the SDS moved in to protest, Richard Daley’s cops were ready with their batons, and chaos followed. Film clips of Chicago police busting the heads of activists outside the convention filled living room TVs around the country. Democrats lost the subsequent election.
Biden’s decision not to seek a second term came even closer to the convention than Johnson’s and yet there has been little of the chaos that occurred in 1968. In fact, the opposite happened. The Democratic Party closed ranks behind Harris, even though only weeks before she was regularly dismissed as a viable candidate.
There is little doubt that Harris has done an extraordinary job in seamlessly grabbing the standard from Biden and launching full tilt into battle. Whether that success is the result of heretofore unappreciated political chops or simply a lot of good fortune remains to be seen. While the answer to that question may take months to assess fully, how this convention proceeds may offer clues.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
Bay City News is devoted to daily 24/7 reporting of the local news of the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Because of our regional focus, we don’t often cover national events like the presidential political conventions. However, because of the great local interest in this year’s contest and the many Bay Area implications, we decided to do something different this election season.
In July we created a special project called “Conventional Matters” to run on Local News Matters, our public service, community affairs website. We ran daily stories from the Republican convention, and beginning today, the website will contain a daily report from the Democratic convention.
Our goal is not to write about the same issues that will be covered by the national media, but to bring to our readers a daily report and commentary about what our reporters encounter on the ground.
We will have three people in Chicago. Joe Dworetzky writes about legal affairs for BCN and covered the Republican National Convention for us. Joe is joined by Jay Harris, a BCN reporter who has had a long career on the business side of journalism, notably serving for 19 years as the publisher of San Francisco’s Mother Jones. David Paul, a financial advisor to governmental entities who has written about politics, finance and economics for nearly 20 years, will be adding to our coverage.
We have located Conventional Matters in the Civic Engagement section of the Local News Matters website where we include opinion pieces. We expect that in their coverage, our reporters will not just describe what they observe but also give our readers their views, commentary and opinions about what they encounter. For example, Joe is an occasional social and political cartoonist, and his work appears on the Local News Matters site in the Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe’s coverage of the Democratic convention will include his cartooning.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers legal affairs and writes long form investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook.
Jay Harris has had a long career on the “business side” of journalism, with significant stints at Newsweek International, The American Prospect, the Hightower Lowdown (published with Texas’s Jim Hightower), and San Francisco’s own Mother Jones (where he was publisher for 19 years). He is enjoying a return to reporting and writing for Bay City News. In 2006, Jay helped found The Media Consortium, an alliance of independent media working together across platforms to extend the reach and impact of their journalism.
David Paul has worked as a financial advisor to city and state governments for over 40 years. David is an adjunct professor of Finance and Real Estate at Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado. He formerly served as the Vice Provost of Drexel University. He has worked as a speechwriter and advisor on gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. Since 2004, David has published a blog called Graffiti on politics, finance, and economics. David received his BA in Economics from Yale University, his MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, and his doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania.
The post The show must go on: Its champions chosen, DNC’s drama may lie away from the speeches appeared first on Local News Matters.