US: Parties get ball rolling for virtual Democratic National Convention

Local Democratic leaders hosted watch parties in their respective states to kick off the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

The 30-minute discussions took place on Zoom and allowed speakers like Congressman Bobby Scott to emphasize their digital approach to the presidential nominating conventions.

"It's a virtual convention, not in Milwaukee like we had hoped," Scott said. "But we believe in science. And we're following the advice of health experts who have insisted that this year's convention be virtual, in fact, if the Trump administration had listened to health experts many fewer Americans would have died during this pandemic."

Another theme that watch party speakers brought up was a desire for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, and his running mate Kamala Harris to build back a better America instead of just recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, economic fallout, and racial injustice.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is overseeing the legal proceedings behind the police killing of George Floyd, admitted Bernie Sanders was his first pick for the Democratic nomination.

"So what? I'm all in now and I'm going to do everything I can to see Biden, Harris win. And I advise you, no matter who you supported, to do the same thing because we got to get rid of this guy," Ellison said. "Bernie knows we've got to get rid of this guy. Am I going to say I don't understand we got to into this guy? So, look, we want you to campaign hard for Biden, Harris is because they're great candidates."

While questions were encouraged when RSVP'ing for the DNC watch parties, they were only visible on the bottom of the Zoom call and were not read aloud.