By BILL BARROW Associated Press, and staff
COLUMBUS – Former Ohio governor John Kasich – a Republican – will be among the speakers on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, just one of many ways in which this convention will be unlike any other,
The party’s national presidential nominating convention gets underway in Milwaukee, sort of, amid a pandemic that has upended the usual pomp-and-circumstance of presidential nominating conventions.
There will be no candidates, delegates, balloons, confetti or the crush of media hordes.
Monday’s session will be the first night of four when Democrats meet online and broadcast to voters two hours of live and pre-taped programming, testing the reach of presumptive nominee Joe Biden’s message.
Viewers will hear pitches from Kasich, who ran unsuccessfully against President Donald Trump in 2016, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran in the last two presidential campaigns, losing the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton four years ago and Biden this year.
A self-identified democratic socialist who wants a “political revolution” and a conservative Republican who was once a budget hawk in Congress and fought labor unions in the Ohio statehouse will deliver different speeches, but with the same goal.
“We are united in the understanding that Trump has to be defeated and that Biden has to be elected,” Sanders told NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday.
Former first lady Michelle Obama will speak, as well. She’s perhaps the most popular figure in the Democratic Party.
-0-
Health safety guidelines that Ohio’s elections chief sent to county boards Wednesday recommend but do not mandate mask-wearing and other preventive measures for those voting in person this fall.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose said those voters who choose not to wear a mask will be given options, including voting outside or using the curbside option.
He also said poll workers are desperately needed. The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5. Early voting begins Oct. 6
LaRose urged those voting by mail to request a ballot no later than Oct. 27, a week ahead of Election Day, to make sure the ballots arrive at their local elections boards in time to be counted.
In Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is calling the House back into session this week to vote on a bill prohibiting the U.S. Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service amid growing concerns that the Trump White House is trying to undermine the agency during the coronavirus pandemic while states expand mail-in voting options.