Before the DNC speakers take the stage tonight in Chicago, delegates do the real convention work

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Monday, August 19, 2024
What do delegates do in the DNC during the day?
Before the star-studded slate of DNC speakers take the stage tonight at the United Center, delegates and Democrats do the real work during the day.

CHICAGO -- The Democratic National Convention is not just a star-studded slate of performances and primetime speeches. At night, TV audiences see delegates participating in a big pep rally for the main speakers, but during the day it's another story.

Politicians and delegates attend a slew of meetings, trainings and events to accomplish the work of the convention, which includes the formal ratification of the 2024 Democratic Party Platform, formal nominations of the vice presidential and presidential candidates, and more.

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The doors of the United Center don't open until 4 p.m. Monday. During the day, the work is being done at McCormick Place.

"We have training sessions. We have speakers from the governors and elected officials who come and inspire the delegates and the members of the community who are here today," said Earl Fowlkes, LGBTQ+ Caucus chair.

Monday saw members of the Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, AAPI Caucus, Native American Caucus and Ethnic Caucus meeting in the morning. At midday, LGBTQ+ Caucus, Small Business Caucus and Labor Council all held meetings, but there were also panels on topics like "Digital Organizing, Misinformation, and Disinformation," "Tribal Organizing 101," and "Understanding and Overcoming the Rural Urban Divide to Win in 2024."

Fowlkes is attending his fourth convention and said his caucus event gets bigger and bigger each time.

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"This is the largest one. It gets larger and larger; we did it 16 years ago, we had 25 to 30 people," he said.

Perhaps the most important work being done on Monday, however, is formalizing and voting on the Democratic Party's 2024 platform. While the Democratic agenda is discussed at each caucus, the party platform is already worked out before the convention. The work done during the day is for delegates to understand what exactly the party stands for and what the Biden Administration has accomplished.

The party unveiled a full, 92-page draft platform late Sunday night. It was written before President Joe Biden left the 2024 race, and was voted upon by the DNC's rules committee in July. The platform revealed Sunday was not updated significantly since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced him on top of the ticket.

The Democratic National Committee said Sunday the platform "makes a strong statement about the historic work that President Biden and Vice President Harris have accomplished hand-in-hand, and offers a vision for a progressive agenda that we can build on as a nation and as a Party as we head into the next four years."
The party said its platform committee voted to approve the platform on July 16, days before Biden bowed out of the race and endorsed Harris on July 21. As a result, the document repeatedly refers to Biden's second term and his administration's accomplishments. It mentions Harris' work as vice president but does not describe her candidacy or go into detail on her views on key issues.

Harris has talked generally about supporting the Biden administration's key goals, which are more or less endorsed in the platform as written.

The platform calls for restoring abortion rights nationwide, continuing to advance green energy initiatives that can create jobs and help slow climate change, capping low-income families' childcare costs and urging Congress to approve a pathway to U.S. citizenship for "long-term" people in the country illegally.

It also says Israel's right to defend itself is "ironclad" while endorsing the Biden administration's efforts to broker a lasting cease-fire deal that could suspend the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Delegates who spoke with ABC News said they expect the draft platform to pass without significant objection.

The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.

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