One year out, Democrats are working to ensure our eventual nominee enters the general election with the full support of the party

One year out from the 2020 presidential election, today the Democratic National Committee is announcing a new initiative to ensure Democrats enter the general election unified behind our eventual nominee and ready to defeat Trump in 2020. 

The unity initiative will help ensure that the eventual nominee has the full support of all elements of the party and facilitate the transition of primary campaigns’ infrastructure into supporting Democrats’ general election efforts. 

Presidential campaigns have been briefed on this effort. 

 “Leading up to the general election, we’ll need every Democrat working together in order to defeat Donald Trump,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez. “That’s why the DNC is proud to partner with our presidential candidates and Democratic state parties in this effort so that our eventual nominee has the full support of the entire party behind them. By coming together, we will put our eventual nominee in the strongest possible position to win the White House and help Democrats secure victories at every level of the ballot in 2020.” 

“It’s smart for the DNC, together with state parties, to begin the work of unification now,” said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley. “We know that in order to be successful we’ll need every Democrat rallying behind our eventual nominee, and this work will help put our party in the strongest possible position for victory in 2020.”

The program includes six key components: 

1. The Democratic Unity Fund 

• The Democratic Unity Fund is dedicated to raising the resources and immediately investing in the infrastructure we need to elect our party’s eventual presidential nominee and winning up and down the ballot in 2020.

• No matter who earns our nomination, she or he will need a strong, united, and well-prepared DNC ready to lift them to victory the moment the general election starts.

• Candidates have sent fundraising emails and participated in fundraising events, with more in the works, that go towards supporting infrastructure the eventual nominee will need to win.

• Later this month President Obama will headline a fundraiser in California around this effort. In addition,  President Obama sent a Unity Fund email for the DNC October 25, which was the DNC’s best online fundraising day this year.  Both Congressman Tim Ryan and Congressman Swalwell sent unity fundraising emails for the DNC on October 29. 

2. Presidential Campaign Unity Ambassadors

• Every campaign will be asked to designate a unity ambassador — a senior member of each campaign who will remain the point of contact between their candidate’s campaign and supporters and the nominee’s campaign, helping ensure a strong transition between the primary and general election.
   
• This program will help ensure that the infrastructure of Democrats’ primary campaigns is well integrated into the general election efforts and help unify Democrats from all parts of the party behind the eventual nominee.

3. Commitment From Candidates to Campaign for the Eventual Nominee 

• The DNC will ask all candidates to not only support the Democratic nominee, but to serve as surrogates, particularly in the weeks following the Democratic National Convention, helping to flood the battleground states or take other actions as appropriate on behalf of the eventual nominee.

• Former candidates like Congressman Tim Ryan, Congressman Eric Swalwell, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and others have already confirmed to the DNC they will take actions to support the eventual nominee.

• Rep. Seth Moulton, Rep. Eric Swalwell, and Rep. Tim Ryan have all sent emails on behalf of the DNC to our grassroots donor list to tout the importance of building Democratic infrastructure and uniting around the eventual Democratic nominee.

4. State Party Unity Strategies  

• We will be engaging state parties to develop a unity strategy that incorporates best practices regarding the administration of party-run events to emphasize inclusivity, encouraging state party chairs and vice chairs to remain neutral until after their state’s contest if they have not already endorsed a candidate (or to disclose their support for a campaign if they do endorse), and offering best practices for engaging convention participants and helping to transition the party to a general election infrastructure.

• This includes a variety of tactics designed to both rally grassroots Democrats around the eventual nominee and ensure grassroots supporters of each candidate know how they can integrate into the infrastructure of the general election. 

5. Resume Bank of Democratic Staff on Campaigns and Continued Trainings:

• The DNC will work with campaigns to maintain a resume bank of talent coming off primary presidential campaigns so that the nominee’s campaign can utilize this trained workforce, including organizers.

• The resume bank is intended to capture a wealth of information upfront on an applicant including their top states and which departments they would be willing to work in. Being able to deliver to the nominee a large pool of interested talent who are willing to work in the states for them will help save them time as they hire for the general election.

• Throughout the primary, the DNC will continue training all levels of potential campaign staff to ensure the eventual nominee has a strong pool of talented staff. 

6. Coordinated Social Media Unity Campaign. 

• On Sunday, November 3 — one year out from the election — Democratic presidential campaigns and other Democratic organizations will participate in a coordinated social media push across multiple platforms highlighting the field’s commitment to unity and to support the eventual nominee in the general election. They’ll be using the hashtag #OneYearOneTeam.