(The Center Square) – Milwaukee’s Democratic National Convention is opening to the kind of lackluster reception that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, was entirely predictable.

Milwaukee DNC planners had expected 50,000 people to come to the city. Bars, restaurants, hotels and any other entertainment venue you could name were all expecting to see huge crowds of their own.

Then the coronavirus hit, and now there is next to nothing.

The DNC opens Monday but almost everything will be online.

After the perfunctories of opening the convention, Wisconsin’s own Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore will speak. Monday night’s theme is “We the People.

There will be a series of speakers on “Demanding Racial Justice,” and a number of speakers focusing on “Helping Each Other Through COVID-19.”

Former First Lady Michelle Obama is the keynote speaker for night one of the DNC. She will speak under the part of the program labeed “We the People Rise.” Her speech will not be live in Milwaukee.

Neither will her husband’s speech on Wednesday, nor Joe Biden’s acceptance speech on Thursday.

It’s not clear how much of the convention will be on regular TV, almost none of the national news networks have reporters in Milwaukee for the DNC.

Anyone interested in watching can find the convention at DemConvention.com, or on social media, or on a number of streaming channels.