Convention delay is latest gut punch to US Democratic 2020 race

Democrats on Thursday postponed their national convention until August 17 over the coronavirus pandemic, the latest convulsion in a US presidential primary process already suffering unprecedented upheaval.

The Democratic National Committee said it was pushing the key gathering back by five weeks, which would delay the formal nomination of the party’s candidate to challenge President Donald Trump in November.

“In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention,” DNC Committee chief executive Joe Solmonese said in a statement.

The decision came after the party’s likely nominee, Joe Biden, said the convention, originally scheduled for July 13-16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, would probably need to be delayed.

The Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin August 24.

Former vice president Biden signalled that his party would need to be prepared for alternatives if the coronavirus crisis persisted or worsened.

“We don’t know what it’s going to be unless we have a better sense of whether this curve is going to move down or up,” Biden told NBC on Wednesday.

The pandemic has already killed more than 5,300 people in the United States, which has a world-leading tally of 226,000 confirmed infections.

Roughly nine in 10 Americans are under stay-at-home orders, and a staggering 10 million people in the country have filed for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks.

The US Democratic nomination race has boiled down to the moderate Biden, the clear frontrunner, and the self-declared democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.

But with Biden expecting to land a hammer blow against his lone remaining rival, no primary has been held since March 17, and the nomination race is essentially stagnant.

Fifteen states including major players New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and one territory have postponed their primary and are broadening vote-by-mail options.

Wisconsin is still scheduled to hold its primary election next Tuesday, defying demands from political officials — and from Sanders — that the vote be pushed back.

“People should not be forced to put their lives on the line to vote,” Sanders said, urging Wisconsin — a crucial battleground in November — to join other states in postponing the primary.

Conventional on-the-ground campaigning — mass rallies, door-knock operations, town halls, and selfie lines — has been frozen for some three weeks in the effort to avoid viral spread.

Both candidates are hunkered down under stay-at-home orders, scrambling to shift their campaigns online.

The convention’s planning team will use the coming weeks to assess all options to reduce risks to public health.

“These options include everything from adjusting the convention’s format to crowd size and schedule,” the Democratic statement said.

“Leadership means being able to adapt, and that’s exactly what our party is doing,” DNC chair Tom Perez said.

“Ultimately, the health and safety of our convention attendees and the people of Milwaukee is our top priority.”

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