The Democratic National Committee is exploring options for having a distance convention this summer, that will either feature a very limited in-person contingent or be held entirely virtually. The DNC's rules and bylaws committee met virtually on Tuesday to consider options, but is expected to adopt changes to allow delegates to participate remotely. In the alternate, Trump universe however, it's full steam ahead, body count be damned.
That means they could do it all online, or still on-site in Milwaukee with many fewer people. "My suggestion to Mr. Perez was get a gigantic stadium and put people six feet apart so maybe instead of having 80,000 people there you would have 16,000 people there and just do it all in one day," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with C-SPAN over the weekend. That seems kind of ridiculous, frankly. If you're changing it to allow for safety of participants, go all the way and keep everyone home, able to vote remotely. Yeah, you don't get the balloon drop, but you also save a lot of money and potentially lives.
What is expected to be adopted Tuesday is "certain changes . . . so as to safeguard the ability of all validly-elected Convention delegates to participate in the Convention in person or by means that allow for appropriate social distancing." A briefing paper from the DNC Monday said that their intent is to allow "maximum flexibility to plan a safe event that guarantees every delegate can accomplish their official business without putting their own health at risk." Which is of course not what the RNC is thinkigin, at all! Ronna (not Romney) McDaniel tweeted last week "we are full steam ahead. […] No one who is actually in a decision-making position has discussed alternate plans for our convention."
Lara Trump, campaign adviser and nepotism project, reiterated that in a campaign conference call with regional press Tuesday. "We don't plan on canceling our convention, we plan on going ahead with it, it is in August in Charlotte, North Carolina." Whoohooo!!!! Let's all go cough on each other! She also said they're figuring out how to get Trump out on the road again, as opposed to virtual rallies. They are "prepared if we need to" to go the virtual route, but "we're very hopeful, fingers crossed, that we can get back to the good ol' fashioned Trump rallies, because it's something I don't think we've ever seen, and I don't think we will ever see something like this again, and what a shame it would be in his last campaign season to not get this president out there." Oh, and she was so close to becoming the favorite Trump family member after Ivanka with that Trump talk. Then she had to go and say this would be his last campaign.
Anyway, how after this disaster the Republican Party pretends to be the party of life again is going to be something to see. Life begins at conception and loses all claim to value the minute it leaves the womb.