Democratic Party leaders meet in Chicago this week for pre-convention talks

WASHINGTON — About 400 Democratic Party officials will meet in Chicago this week, beginning Tuesday, to learn more about the convention in August at the United Center and to name the members of the platform, rules and credentials committees.

No major floor fights are anticipated inside the arena during the convention, where President Joe Biden will be nominated for a second term.

Outside the United Center, though, will be another story. Protesters are already gearing up to demonstrate against Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, with some saying they will attempt to shut down the convention.

The gathering, the last major party meeting before the Aug. 19-22 convention, consists of two groups: The roughly 65 members of the Democratic National Committee’s executive committee; and hundreds of representatives from the Association of State Democratic Chairs who lead 57 parties in U.S. states and territories.

The attendees will hear from Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison and Minyon Moore, the Chicago native who is the chair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

There will be a news conference featuring state party leaders from the Midwest battleground states, where officials from Michigan will likely be asked about the impact of the large “uncommitted” vote in their primary, a protest against how Biden is handling the war.

Mayor Brandon Johnson will address the gathering, a mayoral spokesman said. Johnson is on a high-wire when it comes to the convention. Pro-Palestinian protesters upset with Biden are part of Johnson’s political base. At least three Jewish lawmakers rebuffed Johnson’s invitation for a Monday roundtable to discuss antisemitism, a reaction to Johnson’s tie-breaking vote in January in support of a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza.

Though the state Legislature remains in session in Springfield, Gov. J.B. Pritzker hopes to meet with Democratic leaders convening in Chicago this week, a spokesman said.

When Chicago was announced as the 2024 host city a year ago, Harrison promised that all 77 Chicago neighborhoods would have a stake in the convention.

The Chicago 2024 host committee, which aims to raise between $90 million and $100 million for the convention, has been working to award contracts and throw business to local, minority-owned event space and hospitality industry and service vendors. Toward that end, association members will visit Mi Tierra, a Mexican restaurant in Little Village to, a convention planner said, “connect with local Latino small business owners” at an evening reception.

Last September, state Democratic chairs toured the United Center and McCormick Place, where daytime activities such as briefings and regional state party meetings will be held. Through the week, association members will get their own tour of the United Center and McCormick Place and visit the eight downtown hotels where their delegations will be housed. The Illinois delegation is staying at the Royal Sonesta.

The meeting comes as Democrats prepare for their first live convention in eight years, with 2020 a virtual gathering because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The standing committees

The main business of the Democratic Party executive committee is to select members of the three convention standing committees. Each state and territory is represented on the rules, platform and credential committees, but their votes are weighted, based on the state’s Democratic and electoral votes for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Biden and his team, for all practical purposes, control the party platform, which will be written in the White House.

Since Biden has almost all of the delegates, there will be no replay of 2016, when presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton’s backers, faced with the strength of her chief rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, gave him seats he controlled on the Platform Committee.

With the Israel-Hamas war a divisive issue, Biden will not be immune from outside pressure to include a plank dealing with the Palestinian situation or some other issue. However, the platform committee will be comprised of his delegates.

The credentials committee has, at present, only one issue — whether to reconsider punishing New Hampshire Democrats by taking away their delegates after the state kept it’s first-in-the-nation primary, even after the DNC said South Carolina should go first. It is likely, a source close to the situation said, that this will be resolved before the convention.

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