#Democrats fear they can’t compete with expected GOP convention blowout

As President Trump plans a no-expense-spared, blow-out convention in Jacksonville, Fla., some Democrats are increasingly nervous their party’s pandemic-conscious gathering won’t be able to offer up a compelling alternative.

“The nightmare scenario is [Trump] comes out and rallies his base and gives a speech to an insane crowd and it is covered on every channel and he catapults himself into the fall with an energized base,” one Democratic insider familiar with convention planning told The Post. He said he fears Democrats might counter with “delegates in social-distance folding chairs listening to Joe Biden to an audience tuning in on Zoom.”

“The optics of that are just awful,” the insider continued. “The visual would suggest that momentum and excitement is on the Republican side and not ours.”

Though Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez told reporters last week that party delegates planned to “descend” on Milwaukee for their convention during the third week of August — the logistics remain to be worked out.

Most critically, it is still unclear exactly how many people will be allowed to enter the Fiserv Forum arena and which high-profile Dems will be there to welcome them.

“Given the fluidity of the health pandemic, the scope and the format of the convention are still to be determined. As our team continues to put plans in place, we remain focused on ensuring the health and safety of all those involved in the convention,” a DNCC spokesman told The Post.

What has become increasingly clear is that a full-blown convention, like what the president is planning, is likely off the table. In recent weeks party officials have been sounding out DNC advance staffers about their willingness to travel to “micro-conventions” in other cities.

“One is going to look like a traditional convention and the other is going to look very different and much more of a Google Hangout convention,” GOP strategist Evan Siegfried told The Post.

At least some Democrats would be keen to see the party throw caution to the wind and hold a proper convention, but are afraid of speaking up for fear of running afoul of the party’s COVID-19 messaging, the insider said.

The Republican convention, slated to take place a week after the Dems at the the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, may also encounter resistance. COVID-19 cases have been mounting steadily in the Sunshine state, with a sharp uptick last week. GOP governor Ron DeSantis has vowed to resist further lockdown measures.

“If the convention turns out to be a hot spot for the virus and spreads it across the country, I don’t know how you recover from that,” Siegfried warned. “People are nervous, just in general, and that extends far beyond parties and politics.”