Democratic National Convention strives to build enthusiasm despite going all-virtual

Pennsylvania’s political leaders, power brokers and delegates kicked off the Democratic National Convention as they usually do, with a breakfast event peppered with calls to action aimed at galvanizing support and momentum leading up to the presidential election.

But the breakfast, like everything about the convention this year, was virtual. Everyone was on their own for breakfast, sipping on homemade coffee and listening to speakers from the likes of their home desks, living rooms and patios.

In a year of unprecedented events, the Democratic convention will be another: the first all-virtual convention of a major political party.

“I wish we were all together in Milwaukee. One of the things I enjoy so much about convention week is the opportunity to have breakfast with all of you,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro told participants during Monday morning’s conference call hosted by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “And not just the time we have to hear from great speakers … I always enjoyed those moments right after the breakfast, when we all just kind of spent time together in the lobby. It was always fun.”

Gov. Tom Wolf, speaking from a personal office with a large bookshelf behind him, joined the online breakfast event a little late. He apologized for being “technologically challenged” in getting on the Zoom conference call.

“What a difference four years makes,” Wolf said. “Just four years ago, many of us were altogether in the hotel in Philadelphia having breakfast together, talking about what high hopes we had for 2016. And, now, we’re back together under very, very different circumstances, we’re having a virtual breakfast rather than a real breakfast, but we’re all together.

“And we’re all here with the same high hopes we had back in 2016,” said Wolf, “but with a greater sense of urgency than we had back then.”

Monday marked the first of four days of convention-related activities, social distance-friendly watch parties and events and interactions across several types of digital platforms. Democrats from across the state and country are gathering — in front of their computers, television screens and smartphones — for the all-virtual affair that will showcase the diversity of the modern-day Democratic Party and test Joe Biden’s ability to energize his sprawling coalition.

There will be no physical gathering place, no cheering audience, no balloons and confetti. Musical performances also are going virtual, with Common, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, the Dixie Chicks and Billie Eilish among acts planning to broadcast their performances during the program.

“I certainly appreciate more of an in-person back and forth, where you’re physically in the room with people, and this certainly is different,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, a Democratic delegate, who still is working on the brief remarks he’s set to deliver during a virtual breakfast meeting on Thursday morning.

He recalled attending the prior two conventions in Charlotte, N.C. and in Philadelphia: “There’s an enthusiasm, there’s an energy that you can feed off of, and I’m sure the speakers all feed off of that as well,” Fitzgerald said. “The message may be the same, but it’s much more difficult to have that same energy level.”

This year’s program consists of a series of online video addresses — roughly half of which will be prerecorded — that play out for two hours each night until Biden formally accepts the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday in a mostly empty Delaware ballroom.

Gisele Fetterman, a Democratic delegate who is voting for Biden, will participate remotely all week — sometimes via her laptop, other times on her smartphone. She noted that it’s a different feeling than her first delegate experience four years ago, when “being there, hearing the (National) Anthem, being part of the electing members, was really emotional for me,” particularly since she became a U.S. citizen in 2009.

“Of course, it’s not the same as the energy of being in giant room full of people. But there’s comfort knowing everyone is in the same situation,” said Fetterman, wife to Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman of Braddock. “It’s possibly even more inclusive in that it is more open and the public is not just sitting at home watching everyone in this giant arena. We’re all in the same boat.”

U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, said he thinks people who don’t usually get a ticket to the convention might appreciate the new dynamic. He’s hopeful that people make use of the option to view the events on more types of digital platforms and streaming options than ever before.

“I definitely get the sense that a lot of people really want to watch it,” Lamb said. “A lot of people have complained that the conventions have used the same format for way too long, so one silver lining of this pandemic is that it has forced us to innovate and change a little bit, maybe pare things down to the shortest, leanest and most necessary parts of the convention.”

Loyal Biden supporters in the region have agreed to limit watch parties.

There will be no frenzied gatherings of thousands when Biden, who opted against attending the scaled down event in Milwaukee, accepts the nomination Thursday evening in a speech from his Delaware home.

Bibiana Boerio, of Unity, a first time convention delegate and retired Ford Motor Co. executive, cast her vote for Biden virtually. She’s preparing to host a small gathering in her backyard Thursday night. Some family members and representatives from different organizations will gather there to watch Biden’s acceptance speech on a large screen.

“I have the projector,” said Boerio, who previously served as a congressional staffer on Capitol Hill. “Now, I have to figure out how to set it up.”

Virtual or not, the convention presents a time to unite the party and reach out to potentially undecided voters, several speakers said.

“We’re going to win Pennsylvania,” said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, with confidence during Monday’s virtual breakfast event, speaking against a backdrop of a wooden shelf adorned with framed old photos and books on former presidents Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman.

Wolf, Shapiro and other state elected and Democratic party leaders referenced how wrong they were when most of them thought Hillary Clinton would take Pennsylvania in 2016, only to see Donald Trump beat her by 44,000 votes. They expressed optimism that Biden will fare better — and cited Wolf’s reelection win by 750,000 votes, and Shapiro’s margin of 200,000 — but urged fellow Democrats not to assume the win is secure.

“We can’t take anything for granted. We saw what happened last time when that occurs,” Shapiro said. “We’ve got to show up, we’ve got to listen, we’ve got to talk about our vision and we have to be committed, even in this virtual environment, to compete for every, single vote.”

Though Biden won’t be in Wisconsin for the Democrats’ convention as initially planned this week, Trump will be.

The Trump campaign announced two in-person campaign appearances on Monday and a third on Tuesday as the Republican president works to undermine the opening days of the Democratic National Convention. He was scheduled to deliver remarks in Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday before heading to Arizona on Tuesday.

The Republican National Convention begins Aug. 24.

The Associated Press and staff writer Debra Erdley contributed.