2020 Republican National Convention.

August 21st, 2020 (FOX News) The 2020 Republican National Convention starts its celebratory programming Monday as Republicans officially renominate President Trump and will get four nights to provide a counterpunch to Democrats' convention from the previous week, rally their base and try to get swing voters to side with them in November.

The party conventions, held every four years, have had their plans blown up by the coronavirus pandemic and have had to adjust how they'll take care of business. The GOP convention will still have a footprint in Charlotte, N.C., where a large celebration was initially planned -- six delegates from each state are set to travel to the city to take care of the party's official business. But due to the coronavirus and restrictions put in place by the state, it won't be the normal descent of tens of thousands of supporters and activists that injects millions of dollars into the local economy.

Here's what you need to know about the 2020 Republican National Convention as it's being held in the age of the coronavirus.

Where the action will take place

The official party business, including the official nominating of Trump to represent the party on the presidential ballot, is happening in Charlotte. Just six delegates from each state will attend, including two from each state on the all-important Committee on Credentials, which officially seats the party's delegates. There are also various training sessions and meetings for party leaders, and a possible visit from Trump, who will be in North Carolina on other business Monday.

A top Trump campaign official told Fox News that "we're having calls about that today" when asked on Friday about a potential Trump appearance in Charlotte on Monday. The business in Charlotte is happening at the Charlotte Convention Center. Attendees were provided with self-swab coronavirus tests before going to the convention and were tested again with a nasal swab test upon arrival. Masks are mandatory, and social-distancing protocols, including chairs being placed 6 feet apart from each other, are being observed. In addition, the RNC gave each convention attendee badges to assist with contact tracing.

The agenda for the Charlotte convention, obtained by Fox News, indicates a strict stance on potential coronavirus spread. "Please note that seating will be limited at all sessions due to COVID-19 restrictions. Once a session's seats have been filled no further entry is permitted. Additional chairs will not be added to a session," it reads. "Please also note that there will be health screening required for entry throughout the duration of the program."

The main programming of the convention -- which election-wise is perhaps the most important element as it's to fire up the base and attract swing voters -- will be centered on the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., according to the Trump campaign.There will also be speakers beamed in from Fort McHenry and locations around the U.S., as well as Trump's acceptance address from the White House.

When it's taking place

The broadcast of the convention, according to Axios, will be from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., with the more high-profile speakers appearing later in the broadcast and a "nightly surprise" at 10 p.m. from Monday through Thursday. As for the business in Charlotte, delegates began arriving on Thursday and business started Friday with the meeting of the RNC Standing Committee on Contests. There was also a reception to honor outgoing RNC members Friday evening.

Saturday, the RNC Standing Budget Committee held a meeting at 9 a.m. and the RNC Executive Budget Committee Meeting happened at 9:30 a.m. The RNC Standing Committee of Rules, RNC Standing Committee on Resolutions and state party chairs will also met Saturday. The RNC General Session happened 1 p.m. Saturday, and there was a reception for incoming RNC members at 6:30 p.m.

On Sunday, there were two training sessions, and the Committee on Credentials met at 1:30 p.m. to resolve any disputes on the seating of delegates. There was also a reception to honor the Committee on Arrangements members who helped organize the convention. On Monday, the official meeting at which the party will nominate Trump to be its presidential candidate will begin at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 1 p.m.

What's the theme?

As Democrats did at their convention, Republicans will have a theme for each night, as well as an overall theme for the week. The overall theme will be "Honoring the Great American Story."

Monday - "Land of Promise"

Tuesday - "Land of Opportunity"

Wednesday - "Land of Heroes"

Thursday - "Land of Greatness"

Who are the speakers?

The Trump campaign announced an extensive list of speakers on Sunday, running the gamut from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and evangelist Franklin Graham on Thursday to Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who flashed guns on protesters that were allegedly trespassing on their property.

Monday: Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La.; Gaetz; Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley; GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel; Democratic Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones; Amy Johnson Ford; Kimberly Guilfoyle; Natalie Harp; Charlie Kirk; Maryland congressional candidate Kim Klacik; the McCloskeys; Sean Parnell; Andrew Pollack, Donald Trump, Jr.; Tanya Weinreis

Tuesday: First Lady Melania Trump; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds; Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez; Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi; Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron; Abby Johnson, Jason Joyce; Myron Lizer; Mary Ann Mendoza; Megan Pauley; Cris Peterson; John Peterson; Nicholas Sandmann; Eric Trump; Tiffany Trump

Wednesday: Vice President Mike Pence; Second Lady Karen Pence; Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem; Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas; Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.; Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y.; Former Acting Director of Nationa Intelligence Richard Grenell; Kellyanne Conway; Keith Kellogg; Jack Brewer; Sister Dede Byrne; Madison Cawthorn; Scott Dane; Clarence Henderson; Ryan Holets; Michael McHale; Burgess Owens; Lara Trump

Thursday: HUD Secretary Ben Carson; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif; Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J.; Ivanka Trump; Ja'Ron Smith; Ann Dorn; Debbie Flood; Giuliani; Graham; Alice Johnson; Wade Mayfield; Carl and Marsha Mueller; Dana White

There are also likely to be speakers who are not currently on the list. Trump himself will speak each night of the convention.

Cotton's campaign also confirmed to Fox News that the topic of his speech will be China, Biden and foreign policy.

When is the nomination acceptance speech?

President Trump will be speaking Thursday night from the White House in front of an audience. The RNC, Fox News learned this week, invited the majority of House and Senate Republicans to attend the event.

The RNC also applied this week for a permit for fireworks over the Washington Monument for next Thursday — a display that will likely line up with the end of Trump’s speech.

What's happening with the party platform?

Unlike Democrats, Republicans are leaving their platform untouched from 2016.

At the convention in Charlotte, Republican delegates adopted a resolution officially declaring that the 2016 platform would not be amended and a new one would be adopted which also slammed the news media and declaring their support for Trump.

"The RNC has unanimously voted to forego the Convention Committee on Platform, in appreciation of the fact that it did not want a small contingent of delegates formulating a new platform without the breadth of perspectives within the ever-growing Republican movement," the resolution said. "The media has outrageously misrepresented the implications of the RNC not adopting a new platform in 2020 and continues to engage in misleading advocacy for the failed policies of the Obama-Biden Administration, rather than providing the public with unbiased reporting of facts."

It added: "RESOLVED, That the Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda... That the 2020 Republican National Convention calls on the media to engage in accurate and unbiased reporting, especially as it relates to the strong support of the RNC for President Trump and his Administration."

The party’s current platform – which was adopted at the convention in Cleveland, Ohio, four years ago – contains outdated references such as condemnations of the “current” president, who at the time was President Barack Obama. The platform also includes language opposing same-sex marriage and is supportive of gay conversion therapy. On the other hand, it does not include references to newer issues like the movement to defund police supported by many on the left and vehemently opposed by most Republicans.

© 2020 ALL RIGTHS RESERVED MSH WorldWide Company By Marcelo Santiago Hernández.

2020 Democratic National Convention.

August 21st, 2020 (CBS News). Democratic National Convention was that it was the "unconventional convention," a description that actually undersold the fact that it was unlike any that preceded it. By mid-May, the party had begun to lay the groundwork for a virtual convention, amid doubts that the coronavirus would be eradicated or under control by August. 

On his third try for the presidency, Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination alone at a podium in a silent room. But he was elevated by heartfelt praise from not only the party's biggest stars and his family and friends, but the everyday Americans he encountered over 50 years in public life and stopped to listen to, advise or console. Conventions can be held virtually. Democrats were the guinea pigs for something that had never been done before — holding a nominating convention entirely remotely.

With only minor hiccups, the Democratic National Committee proved that a convention can be held virtually. And it even allows for other elements: Seeing delegates in their home states turned out to be a welcome — even preferred — innovation over the traditional roll call vote on the convention floor.

There were small flaws — audio crossovers and awkward pauses — but they were minor, considering the ambitious nature of the undertaking. 

Republicans, who concluded later in the summer that they, too, would be forced to hold a remote convention, have just a couple of days to implement any last-minute lessons from what they saw this week. 

In the future, it will be interesting to see if parties continue to pour millions of dollars into physical conventions or opt for the less pricey route of hybrid gatherings. 

Obama's rebuke of President Trump. On the convention's third night, former President Obama delivered a blistering speech that may have been the strongest rebuke of a sitting president by his predecessor in modern history. The 44th president has rarely criticized the 45th by name, but he didn't hesitate to invoke his own experience in the office to denounce President Trump by name. 

"I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care," Mr. Obama said. "But he never did."

He continued, "For close to four years now, he's shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves."

While Mr. Obama spoke, Mr. Trump was tweeting at him in all caps. 

"Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't," Mr. Obama said. "And the consequences of that failure are severe."

Civilian standouts

Many of the most powerful speeches of the convention were delivered not by practiced politicians, but by everyday Americans.

Kristin Urquiza told the story of her 65-year-old father, a Trump supporter who died this summer after a weeks-long battle with coronavirus. She slammed the president for his response to the virus in her speech on Monday.

"His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life," Urquiza said. "The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americas: the America that Donald Trump lives in and the America that my father died in." Jacquelyn Brittany, a security officer at the New York Times building in New York, formally nominated Biden for president. Brittany met Biden when he was at the Times for an editorial board meeting, and her encounter with him went viral. 

Former Representative Gabrielle Giffords was a star in the Democratic Party whose political career was cut short when she was shot point blank in the head in a mass shooting that claimed the lives of six people in January 2011. She suffers from aphasia that makes every word a struggle. On Wednesday, her speech about rediscovering her voice, around 150 words, is the longest address she's made since she was shot. "I found one word and then I found another. My recovery is a daily fight but fighting makes me stronger," she said. "Words once came easily. Today, I struggled to speak, but I have not lost my voice." 

And on the final night of the convention, a 13-year-old boy named Brayden Harrington talked about how Biden helped him with his stutter.

"I'm just a regular kid, and in a short amount of time Joe Biden made me more confident about something that's bothered me my whole life. Joe Biden cared," Harrington said. He showed viewers the tricks Biden shared with him to reduce his stuttering.

Lightness and darkness

Nearly every major speaker defined the terms of the upcoming election starkly, as a battle for the future of the country. Biden took the metaphor further in his acceptance speech, framing his campaign as a beacon of light while Mr. Trump's vision is darker and more divisive.

"The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long," Biden said. "If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness."

"In this dark moment, I believe we're poised to make great progress again. That we can find the light once more," Biden later continued. "This is a battle we will win, and we'll do it together."

In his speech, Mr. Obama also said he believed in Biden's "ability to lead this country out of these dark times and build it back better."

Each of the major speakers at the convention emphasized the importance of voting in this year's election, particularly since Mr. Trump continues to try to raise doubts about voting by mail. Mr. Obama urged young people not to become disillusioned by politics, but to turn out in November.

"Do not let them take away your power. Do not let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you're going to get involved and vote. Do it as early as you can and tell your family and friends how they can vote too," Mr. Obama said.

Hillary Clinton noted wryly in her address on Tuesday that she had heard people who did not vote in 2016 express regret that they did not participate in that election.

"For four years, people have said to me, 'I didn't realize how dangerous he was.' 'I wish I could go back and do it over.' Or worst, 'I should have voted.' Well, this can't be another 'woulda coulda shoulda' election," Clinton said.

Speakers also frequently mentioned recent operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service that have led to delays in mail delivery and concerns about the likely influx of absentee ballots in November due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the convention featured a video of elderly voters discussing the importance of voting and having the ability to vote by mail.

Sarah Cooper, a comedian who has gained fame for lip-syncing speeches of Mr. Trump, said that the president was railing against vote-by-mail because he knows it will kill his re-election hopes.

"Nothing is more dangerous to our democracy than his attacks on mail-in voting in the middle of a pandemic," Cooper said. "Donald Trump doesn't want any of us to vote because he knows he can't win fair and square."

Emphasis on military on night 4

The final night of the convention highlighted men and women in the nation's military. 

Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who lost her leg to a blast in Iraq, told her story and that of the support her husband provided in her hardest days. Military families, she said, make enormous sacrifices. Duckworth said Biden knows that sacrifice, having sent off his son, Beau Biden, to war. 

"He understands their bravery because he has had to muster that same strength every hour of every day Beau was overseas," Duckworth said. 

Beau Biden survived military service but lost his battle to cancer in 2015. The convention also showed videos portraying Beau Biden's military service.

A 95-year-old Republican who served in World War II and the Korean War and who voted for Mr. Trump in 2016 voiced his support for Biden in a video. "I think Trump has been the worst president we've ever had," veteran Ed Good said. 

Biden ended his acceptance speech by asking God to protect the troops. 

The Zoom speech 

Though Biden and Harris made their remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, most of the speeches were delivered from other locations and some were pre-recorded. Despite the limitations of their venues, some of the speakers delivered powerful presentations, at ease no matter how their speeches were delivered — whether live with camera crews or with their own home smartphone setups. Others stumbled a little with the new medium.

Mr. Obama, speaking live from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, was clearly at ease delivering a scathing speech rebuking Mr. Trump and endorsing Biden. Michelle Obama also gave an emotional speech, recorded in advance in what appeared to be a home setting.

Other backdrops, though, were less effective. Former President Clinton and Hillary Clinton spoke on Tuesday and Wednesday in front of the same couch in their Chappaqua, New York home. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke from Brooklyn with the Statue of Liberty in the background, but the nighttime speech made it difficult to see Lady Liberty. 

© 2020 ALL RIGTHS RESERVED MSH WorldWide Company By Marcelo Santiago Hernández.