Inside Wisconsin delegates' at-home conventions

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The 2020 Democratic National Convention is happening across the state and country, with delegates tuning in each day from their homes.

“I was able to convert my home office into sort of the delegate headquarters,” said Alexander Kostal, a Wisconsin delegate.

While it’s not the convention floor at Fiserv Forum or even the Wisconsin Center, Kostal says it’s important for delegates to take their roles seriously and get energized for the general election.

“The real value of being a delegate is being able to use your experience to get to know folks that are going to help you organize on issues you care about down the road,” Kostal said.

Kostal says making those connections is difficult over Zoom,  but not impossible.

“I’ve already gotten 20 new Facebook friend requests,” Kostal said.

Out in Waukesha, Lauren Yoder, who at 19 is one of the youngest delegates, is participating on her laptop in her parents’ backyard.

Yoder says a lot of delegates spent Tuesday talking about how different last night’s speeches felt compared to past conventions.

“When you’re at a convention you’re mainly addressing the crowd, you really want to get that energy from the crowd and you can build momentum from that,” Yoder said. “But when you’re speaking on primetime like they were last night, it was really obvious they were trying to address the country.”

Yoder says while things are nothing like she pictured, as a first time voter, she’s still moving ahead with a lot of excitement.

“I registered to vote the day I turned 18, it was one of the biggest moments of my life so far.”