The Gig is Up

The coronavirus means a re-imagining of the national political conventions.

As cases in the battleground state of Florida have continued to spike, Republican National Convention activities scheduled to take place in Jacksonville next month have been cancelled.

Jacksonville was chosen as a replacement host city for Charlotte, North Carolina, last month, after promising a full 15,000-person arena for President Trump to accept the party’s nomination.

Convention organizers had just ten weeks to plan a three-day event in the new location, and faced logistical, health and security challenges every step of the way.

Now they are back at the drawing board determining how to host the convention and President Trump’s acceptance speech.

The Democratic National Convention is still set to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but as few as 300 people are expected to be present in person. Democrats are instead positioning the event as a “Convention Across America” that will be made for TV audiences, with all party business taking place virtually.

Still, party officials have signaled that all convention specifics are still in flux.

That includes the idea of smaller in-person satellite events for delegates as infection rates continue to rise.