It has been a busy few weeks for Democrats in the US.
Lower than a month in the past, present President Joe Biden introduced he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race amid issues about his age and skill to defeat his Republican rival and predecessor Donald Trump.
Biden’s vice chairman, Kamala Harris, has since emerged because the Democratic Occasion’s presidential nominee, buoyed by a wave of help from broad segments of the occasion’s base and members of Congress.
Harris’s choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential operating mate additionally galvanized Democrats and spurred tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in new donations, in keeping with her marketing campaign.
The occasion will now collect in Chicago for the Democratic Nationwide Conference, a practice throughout presidential election years. Democrats hope the conference will function a robust present of unity as occasion members coalesce across the Harris-Walz ticket lower than three months earlier than Election Day.
However what precisely does the conference have in retailer for us this yr? This is what you should know.
What precisely is the Democratic Nationwide Conference?
The Democratic Nationwide Conference, held each 4 years, is a gathering to formally choose the occasion’s candidates for president and vice chairman.
Democrats additionally vote on the occasion platform and different procedures, however the conference actually serves as a option to construct enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket.
This yr’s conference will start on August 19 and run via August 22 in Chicago, Illinois.
Have not Harris and Walz already been confirmed as candidates for 2024?
Sure, however issues are completely different this yr.
The Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC) introduced on August 6 that Harris and Walz had been formally licensed as candidates for president and vice chairman, respectively.
That is as a result of Democrats held a digital roll name vote earlier this month.
Throughout that slate, Harris earned the help of a majority of Democratic delegates, individuals who usually solid votes for the presidential nominee on the conference primarily based on the outcomes of primaries and caucuses.
Usually, the official roll name vote takes place on the conference, however this yr, the occasion opted for a digital roll name vote beforehand as a result of Democrats had expressed concern that Harris could possibly be left off the poll in Ohio attributable to a procedural challenge.
Will there then be a roll name vote on the conference?
Based on the Democratic Nationwide Committee, sure.
However the committee says the vote will likely be “ceremonial” since Harris and Walz have already been confirmed.
Conference Chair Minyon Moore stated on Aug. 6 that Democratic delegates “will rejoice this historic nomination with a ceremonial slate and inform the story of Vice President Harris, Governor Walz, and the Democratic Occasion as we put together to defeat Donald Trump as soon as once more.”
Trump was formally confirmed because the Republican Occasion’s nominee on the Republican Nationwide Conference in July. His operating mate, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, was additionally named and confirmed eventually month’s conference.
It is official! I simply signed the paperwork to certify the Vice President @KamalaHarris for the vote as our Democratic Occasion candidate for president.
Let’s make historical past this November! picture.twitter.com/Isymkud833
— Jaime Harrison (@harrisonjaime) August 6, 2024
What else is scheduled and who will likely be attending?
Together with Democratic delegates and different occasion members, Democratic lawmakers are anticipated to take part within the four-day conference.
Whereas a full schedule of audio system has but to be launched, US media reported that Biden, who endorsed Harris after she dropped out of the race late final month, would be the keynote speaker on the primary evening of the conference on August 19.
Harris and Walz are additionally anticipated to provide speeches. The vice presidential candidate will deal with the gang on August 21 and the presidential candidate will shut the occasion on August 22.
Organizers estimate that round 50,000 individuals will flock to Chicago for the occasion.
Is there the rest to stay up for?
Whereas Democrats have largely coalesced round Harris since she launched her White Home marketing campaign final month, she continues to face calls to interrupt with the Biden administration’s insurance policies on Israel and the Gaza battle.
Consequently, Harris is anticipated to face giant demonstrations on the sidelines of the conference, as protesters demand an finish to the battle and unconditional US help for Israel.
For months, protesters have demanded that Washington cease sending arms to Israel whereas bombing the Palestinian coastal enclave. The Israeli battle has killed almost 40,000 Palestinians and triggered a humanitarian disaster.
The Coalition to March In opposition to the Democratic Nationwide Conference, a coalition of activist teams, has deliberate marches for August 19 and 22. “The truth that the Democratic Occasion management is altering its presidential candidate doesn’t wash the blood of greater than 50,000 Palestinians from its fingers,” it says on its web site.
“All the Biden administration, together with senior members of the Democratic Occasion throughout the nation, has spent the final ten months wholeheartedly supporting the genocide in Gaza with our tax {dollars},” the coalition stated.
“It’s a matter of historic urgency that every one organizations preventing for the rights of staff and the oppressed in the US be a part of us on this demonstration in solidarity with Palestine.”
Chicago is dwelling to one of many largest Palestinian-American communities within the nation, and plenty of locals are anticipated to participate within the marches.
Have there been protests at different conventions earlier than?
Completely.
Final month, outdoors the Republican Nationwide Conference, protesters took to the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to denounce Trump and his Republican Occasion for his or her stances on abortion, the Gaza battle and different points.
However presumably the best-known protest occurred on the 1968 Democratic Nationwide Conference, additionally in Chicago.
Protesters calling for an finish to the Vietnam Conflict tried to march towards the conference web site however have been met with heavy-handed repression by hundreds of police, Nationwide Guardsmen and different regulation enforcement officers.
The violence threw the Democratic Occasion into chaos forward of that yr’s election, which was finally gained by Republican Richard Nixon.
