Deutsche Welle :
With November’s US presidential election looming large, the Democratic Party is gearing up for a massive political event: the Democratic National Convention (DNC), set to start on Monday and conclude on Thursday in Chicago.
Who is coming to the DNC?
The organizers expect to host over 5,000 Democratic delegates, high-profile guests and party officials from various parts of the US. The convention will also have 12,000 volunteers, some 50,000 visitors and thousands of reporters covering the event.
The Democratic Party has yet to release a full list of speakers, but reports indicate that current President Joe Biden, former President Barrack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be giving speeches. Kamala Harris is set to give an address on the last day of the party conference.
The conference will be held at two main locations. The United Center will host official proceedings, speeches and high-profile televised events. McCormick Place will be the site of daytime party meetings, consultations and briefings.
What is the purpose of the DNC?
For both Republicans and Democrats, national conventions symbolize the party uniting behind a single candidate for the final stage of the presidential race. Traditionally, delegates from every US state are expected to attend the DNC and publicly proclaim their support in a lengthy roll call, culminating with the candidate accepting the nomination and giving a speech.
This is also how the Republican candidate Donald Trump secured his nomination at his own party’s event, the RNC, a month earlier in Milwaukee.
But this year’s campaign has been anything but traditional for the Democrats. Due to Biden dropping out of the race last month and some legal concerns regarding the ballot in Ohio, the party has already held a virtual roll call to confirm Harris as its presidential nominee.
Why is the DNC important for the Harris-Walz campaign?
Harris secured the support of 99% of the delegates during the virtual roll call in early August, which saw 4,615 delegates cast their vote. Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, have already accepted the Democratic nomination. Therefore, any further display of support from the delegates — which may also include the ceremonial vote count — will be purely symbolic.
Harris is still expected to give a formal acceptance speech and close the nomination process on Thursday. More importantly, the conference will give her and Walz a chance to boost their public profile and define their policies while the party puts the final touches on its 2024 platform.
The party platform serves as a mostly symbolic declaration of party priorities, hammered out through interactions between the party, the public and interest groups. The 80-page draft of the platform was published before Biden dropped out of the race last month, and the final version of the platform will be adopted at the convention.