Every nominating convention closely resembles those that came before. There are the political celebrities who pontificate in prime time and the next big things glad-handing with would-be supporters. Costumed delegates doing their best to make their state stand out. A small army of worker bees hand out the ever-changing signs and check badges. If you bet on there being a balloon drop at the end, you’re sure to make money off of whatever politically unaware bookie would take the offer. But for all the familiar sights and sounds, this particular convention has the air of the unexpected.
Remote observers may believe the primary focus of the DNC lies in the words “Democratic” or “National,” but the operative term is actually “Convention.” The DNC is, above all, a gathering of stakeholders invested in the success of their party; they are primarily, although not entirely, the choir to whom the speakers are preaching. The convention doesn’t begin each evening at the United Center, ready to beam into viewers’ living rooms. Each morning, delegates, staffers, politicians, volunteers, reporters, and assorted hangers-on start the day with early breakfasts at luxury hotels throughout the city. They attend meetings of various party caucuses and councils throughout the day at the McCormick Place convention center.
They then travel by train, shuttle, or rideshare to the United Center—usual home of the Chicago Bulls, current home of the evening festivities—to watch Democratic rising stars of the past, present, and future deliver remarks with varying levels of skill, investment, and audience engagement, sandwiched between slickly produced campaign videos. (This commute is a logistical nightmare that one feels could have been avoided if event planners deemed McCormick Place sufficiently photogenic.) They perambulate the perimeter of the arena to buy overpriced sodas, to see and be seen. It’s a family reunion, a four-day business meeting that could have been an email (or Zoom call, like the previous Covid-era convention of 2020), and an overstuffed pep rally in one chaotic package. Thousands of reporters have traveled to Chicago to mostly watch what’s happening on television.
