Delegates Will Miss Hoopla as Political Conventions Go Mostly Virtual

Asked whether the Democrats made the right decision to keep delegates home, Wood pointed to two items in the goodie bag that the Wisconsin Democratic Party sent to its delegates: a button that says, “Stayed Home, Saved Lives, Missed the Party” ... and a mask.

Souvenirs and celebrities

Mark Ellis is with Maine Sen. Susan Collins.

Courtesy Mark Ellis

Mark Ellis still has the pen he used to certify John McCain's place on the ballot for president in 2008, in Maine. Ellis, who was the state Republican chairman that year, attended the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 GOP conventions. He's kept his credential badges from each one as well as the red, white and blue court jester's hat — complete with bells — that he wore on the convention floors. “I've been an activist my entire adult life,” says Ellis, 59, who is membership director for the Maine Chamber of Commerce.

The New York City GOP convention in 2004 provided some unexpected encounters that stuck with him. One night, Ellis was stationed near the VIP area off the stage. From his seat, he could see former President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush sitting by themselves. They were listening to professional wrestling star Dwayne Johnson, better known as “The Rock,” address the delegates. After Johnson spoke, he walked right by the former first couple and sat down a few rows in front of them. “That's when [Mrs. Bush] got up and walked down the stairs to the row behind him and poked him on the shoulder,” Ellis says. “He had this unbelievable look of surprise on his face. And, of course, he shot up, obviously embarrassed that he had walked by them and hadn't stopped to say hello. That was a really good memory for me because it was the kind of private moment that not everyone got to see."

A figure skating fan, Ellis also found himself close enough to meet Dorothy Hamill after she spoke. “It was just me gushing,” Ellis says. “And I remember she was very gracious” and stood as Ellis and other delegates had their pictures taken with the Olympic gold medalist.

Behind the scenes

Courtesy Jadine Nielsen

Jadine Nielsen went to her first Democratic convention in 1976, as a young volunteer, and has been to nearly all of them since — either as a volunteer or a delegate from California or Hawaii, where she and her husband retired to more than 16 years ago.

"Being involved is so exciting. There's nothing like it,” says Nielsen, 71, who worked as a U.S. Senate staff member and political appointee during several Democratic administrations.

For Nielsen, two of her most memorable convention moments came decades ago.

"Usually at conventions, no matter who is speaking, people are milling around, talking, walking around,” Nielsen says. But in 1976 in New York City, when then-U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan went to the podium and became the first African American woman to deliver a convention keynote address, “everyone stopped. You could hear a pin drop. I've never experienced something like that again. I didn't even know who she was before she spoke. I was just so blown away by her voice and her command of the whole room."

Then in 1988, Nielsen was an official with the California delegation. One of the highlights of every convention is the call of the states, when each state casts its vote for the presidential nominee.

Nielsen got to experience some of the convention strategy firsthand. The Dukakis campaign wanted California to cast the ballots that would give the Massachusetts governor the number of delegates he needed to give him the nomination for president. She was the delegation's whip and was on the phone with the campaign aides until, finally, the time came for California to put Dukakis over the top. “All the television cameras, newspaper photographers were there in front of us” to record the moment, Nielsen recalls.

2020 not the first convention hiccup

Anne Hathaway (center) invited her parents, Jack and Mary Hathaway, to the 2008 GOP convention.

Courtesy Anne Hathaway

A lifelong Republican activist and former chief of staff for the Republican National Committee, Anne Hathaway went to her first convention in 1992, when as an Indianan, she was working for Vice President Dan Quayle. She has some firsthand experience with natural disasters affecting political conventions.

In 2008, Hurricane Gustav hit New Orleans just as the Republican convention was getting underway in Minneapolis. The GOP canceled almost all the first-day activities, Hathaway says. “We actually went dark on Monday night. President Bush did not come to the convention. We made a decision that there was no way that we could be dancing and celebrating in Minnesota when first responders and people were fighting for their lives in the path of a hurricane."

Then in 2012, the convention was in Tampa, Florida, and was due to get underway just as Hurricane Isaac was making its way to the state. “We made the decision that the first responders — public safety officials and bus drivers — needed to be taking care of their jobs, not worrying about driving buses and directing traffic,” Hathaway says. “So, our delegates were all confined to their hotels for 24 hours."

This year, Hathaway, 60, will drive from her home in Indianapolis to Charlotte. She is one of the six Indiana delegates who will represent the state party.

Hathaway says she has talked with staffers for the convention, “and I know that they are working their tails off to adjust and make sure we're safe. They don't want any of the 336 of us to become ill or to transmit the virus to anybody back in our communities."

Having some in-person presence in Charlotte, she says, “is an important part of our process, and I think we can do it well and do it safely."