A Disorganized DNC

Chicago — I knew the moment I arrived at the Hyatt Regency’s press check-in Monday morning that this year’s Democratic convention would be mired in logistical failures. DNC volunteers gave reporters inaccurate directions, security officers sounded confused about protocol, and press organizers told me they would not be surprised if there were serious scheduling and security issues throughout the week.

My suspicions were confirmed later Monday evening when I pulled up to the United Center to confront an enormous line around 5:45 p.m. Central for credential check-in, only to be told that I needed to round the corner and enter through a different security checkpoint. Once I walked around the corner, I was confronted by yet another enormous line, where reporters were begging to be able to cut delegates to start covering the speeches. Some delegates and reporters waited well over an hour before they were able to get through security and into the United Center.

Last month’s Republican convention in Milwaukee went off without a hitch in large part because the Fiserv Forum convention arena (where Kamala Harris is rallying tonight) was only a few hundred feet from the Baird Center, where reporters could hang out and write stories and delegates could pass the time. In other words, convention attendees were already inside the security perimeter for most of the day before the evening events kicked off.

Here in Chicago, delegates have to shuttle or take a cab from their hotels or the McCormick Plan Convention Center, where caucus council meetings and DemPalooza events are being held. The result? Lots of traffic, long lines, and security bottlenecks.

“It’s been a nightmare,” one of the press organizers told me. The main issue, this person said, has been transporting people from A to B. “It doesn’t help that we have to shuttle people over and then there are like three layers of security people have to get through” to get inside the United Center.

The cherry on top of an already logistically nightmarish opening night came around 11:25 p.m. Eastern, when convention attendees finally got to see their incumbent president deliver his long-delayed speech. 

The spin from the DNC? The applause pushed him out of prime time! “Because of the raucous applause interrupting speaker after speaker, we ultimately skipped elements of our program to ensure we could get to President Biden as quickly as possible so that he could speak directly to the American people,” convention officials said in a statement.

Convention disorganization was also an issue during the breakout sessions Tuesday afternoon, as was low attendance. Earlier today I walked into a giant ballroom for a panel on “Harris for President Messaging Guidance 101.” Only about fifteen of the auditorium’s several hundred seats were occupied — three by reporters for the Washington Free Beacon. Another Tuesday afternoon event “Using Earned Media” kicked off with just three people in the audience, myself included. 

Very-important-looking people wearing DNC lanyards have also been unhelpful. Only about two of the dozen or so volunteers I’ve spoken to in the past 24 hours have been able to effectively answer any of my questions about directions, security, or event timing.

Like Jeff, I don’t really mind the poor logistics, limited floor access, or terrible writing press stand location — these kinds of things should be expected and often make good story fodder. (Though I must admit it’s a bit amusing that the Harris campaign, which has spent the past month declining to seriously engage with the media, gave more convention-floor access to social-media influencers than to daily press gallery journalists.) It’s the Democratic delegates I pity, many of whom have probably spent a pretty penny to come out here and have had to wait in long lines just to get inside the arena.