Democrats will convene in Chicago to approve their party platform and present their message and candidates to the world.
The Democratic Party will convene its national convention on Aug. 19–22 in Chicago, two weeks after nominating Vice President Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate. Harris subsequently chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
“During the convention, we will have an opportunity to show the country and the world who Democrats are and what we stand for,” convention chair Minyon Moore said in a statement on July 21.
“The historic progress Democrats achieved under the Biden–Harris Administration will still be central to that story, as will the story of what is at stake in this election.”
The United Center, home of NBA team Chicago Bulls and NHL team Blackhawks, will host evening rallies, which will feature speeches by Democrat notables. Daytime events, such as party caucuses and other meetings, will take place at McCormick Place, about five miles away.
Democrats have not yet announced the full lineup of speakers, but it will include former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and 2020 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
President Joe Biden is expected to deliver remarks via video on the opening night.
Other speakers are likely to include party leaders, prominent elected officials, the candidates’ spouses, and ordinary people who exemplify some aspect of the party’s message. Often, there are appearances by celebrities who endorse the candidates.
Typically, the vice presidential nominee speaks on the second-to-last night of the convention and the presidential nominee on the last night.
Harris and Walz could appear at the convention earlier, however. At the Republican convention, former President Donald Trump entered each of the evening rallies at about the midpoint and sat with high-profile attendees in a VIP box. Vance was present prior to his speech as well.
Watch for the evening rallies to build on one another, climaxing with Harris’s speech on the last night.
“You have to plan a consistent message so that … everyone who’s speaking there is hitting home on these exact same things,” Aaron Dusso, a professor of political science at Indiana University, Indianapolis, told The Epoch Times.