2020 Democratic Convention Lineup Announced

The Democratic Convention will take place on Monday, August 17th at 9:00 pm EDT, and in deference to the COVID-19 pandemic and short modern-day attention spans, will occupy just two hours per night for four nights. That means that time for speeches is at a premium, and some hard decisions by the DNC had to be made. Here is the list as it currently stands (the last person listed is the keynote speaker for that evening): Monday Night

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
• Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)
• Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY)
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI)
• Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC)
• Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
• Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)
• Former governor John Kasich (R-OH)
• Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL)
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN)
• Former first lady Michelle Obama

Tuesday Night

• Former acting AG Sally Yates
• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
• Former secretary of state John Kerry
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
• Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
• Former president Bill Clinton
• Former second lady Jill Biden

Wednesday Night

• Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
• Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
• Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI)
• Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM)
• Former representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ)
• Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA)
• Former president Barack Obama

Thursday Night

• Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
• Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA)
• Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D-Atlanta)
• Former mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-South Bend)
• Former mayor Mike Bloomberg (D-New York City)
• Andrew Yang
• Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
• Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
• Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE)
• Joe Biden

The list is subject to revision—and, in fact, both Yang and Bloomberg were added after the original announcement. However, here are a few observations on the list as it currently stands:

• 14 speakers are persons of color and 18 are women. This is not your father’s political convention.
  
• The convention is going to have a decidedly centrist cast. The number of progressive speakers is not too large, and many of those are relegated to less-desirable slots.
  
• Mike Bloomberg’s addition has generated controversy. And, unlike nearly everyone else on the list, he is neither a candidate for office nor a Democratic luminary.
  
• All four keynote speakers are either Bidens or Obamas. It’s gonna be a “those were the days” kind of convention.
  
• The only person who earned presidential delegates this year, and yet has not been given a speaking slot is Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI).
  
• There are four living Democratic presidential nominees who did not get invites, but three of them ran quite a while ago and are also up there in years. In other words, the exclusion of Jimmy Carter (who is frail), Walter Mondale, and Michael Dukakis is not a huge surprise. The exclusion of Al Gore, on the other hand, is a little more unexpected.