The Democratic Party Convention opens today, also kicking off what will be two weeks of intense political activity in the United States and the final phase of the campaign, that will end with the election of the next President of the United States on November 3rd.

It’s a campaign like no other, for many reasons. The main one, the COVID-19 pandemic, has completely transformed the way the main parties campaign, trying new ways to reach voters.

The Democratic Convention, which begins this Monday night – at 9 P.M. in Milwaukee / 1 A.M. Tuesday in Lisbon – will last until Thursday, the day Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will officially accept the nomination as candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.

For the first time, the candidates will not be in the city where the Convention was supposed to take place, in Milwaukee. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will deliver their speeches from Wilmington, Delaware, the city where Joe Biden resides.

But they won’t be the only ones. The party stage, enthusiasm, and political maneuvers typical of a US Convention within the audience, where the delegates are, will not exist this year. The pandemic requires enhanced care and the celebration of the Convention will be replaced by a teleconference.

What doesn’t change are the heavyweights called to defend the party’s choice. This Monday, the convention will feature speeches by two of the most well-known names in the democratic field: the former First Lady Michelle Obama, who delivered the most applauded speech of 2016; and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden’s biggest contender during the primary.

Who will make a speech this Monday:

  • Michelle Obama, the former first lady who in 2016 scored with her speech appealing for a positive campaign;
  • Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Senator who returned to the second place in the Democratic primary after the defeat to Hillary Clinton in 2016;
  • Amy Klobuchar, another of the candidates in the primary and who came to be considered for the Vice President role. She quit before Super Tuesday and supported Joe Biden;
  • Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York and a very critical voice of Donald Trump. He gained more projection and political capital as a result of the way he dealt with the pandemic in its state;
  • John Kasich, former Governor of Ohio and one of the Republican candidates in the 2016 primary in which he defeated Donald Trump;
  • Doug Jones, Senator for the State of Alabama who achieved a historic victory in 2017 in one of the most conservative states in the United States. Doug Jones is up for reelection, but he’s one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the race;

Where to follow the campaign:

  • If you want to follow the full two hours, you can do so through CNN, MSNBC, PBS or C-SPAN;
  • ABS, CBS, NBC, and Fox News will also broadcast in part, only between 10:00 P.M. and 11 P.M.;
  • If you have apps like Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Amazon Prime Video;
  • Major U.S. newspapers will also broadcast a portion of the speech, in addition to the main moments.

Next Monday, August 24, it will be the turn of the Republican Convention, in which Donald Trump will accept the Republican nomination to go again to the election. The patterns of the conference will be similar, and there is still doubt as to where Donald Trump will deliver his acceptance speech.

The President of the United States said that this speech could be made from the White House in Washington, D.C., or in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the scene of one of the most important battles of the American Civil War in 1863.