With one of the most unpredictable presidential campaigns looming on the horizon for 2020, one thing will certainly be different from the 2016 version: the Democratic nominee will set foot in Wisconsin.
“This choice is a statement of our values,” (DNC Chair Tom) Perez said in a statement. “The Democratic Party is the party of working people, and Milwaukee is a city of working people.”
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett called it a “great day” for Brew Town, and said, “We are ready to showcase Milwaukee on one of the largest stages in the world.”
The Democrats’ 2016 presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, was widely criticized by the party after the election for not campaigning in Wisconsin, a state she had been expected to win. Donald Trump carried the state by 22,748 votes — less than one percent of the overall vote. Barack Obama won the state by 6.7 percent in 2012.
The DNC selection process has been ongoing for months — longer than the cities expected, causing some frustration among organizers in the various locales. The original list also included Atlanta, Denver, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Birmingham.
That was narrowed down to the three finalists last year, although Milwaukee was always seen as the frontrunner, because it would signal a commitment to winning back the Midwest. Miami would have been a boost in the most important swing state in the country, and Houston would have been a bet on the party’s future — it’s one of the most diverse cities in the country in a giant state that has been becoming more blue.
Some Democrats had been concerned that choosing Milwaukee would open the party up to Clinton jabs, which Republicans immediately started making on social media.
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Some Democrats also were concerned about logistical issues — including an overall lack of hotel space near the convention site — but had worries about the other cities as well. There was also grumbling that the fix was in for Milwaukee because Perez has personal connections to the city — his wife’s family is from there — but he has denied that.
The jokes will write themselves. Tom Perez has done little to cover his tenure at the DNC in glory, so that criticism will linger, but the logic of holding the convention in what has been considered the Northwest edge of the Rust Belt has some good points beyond just President Trump’s narrow win in the state. In fact, the changing dynamic of Milwaukee as a city is likely to fit into some of the Democratic Parties messaging for 2020 quite nicely.
When the Democratic National Convention comes to Milwaukee next summer, the city on the shores of Lake Michigan will have its long-awaited opportunity to show the world it’s shedding its Rust Belt image.
State and local officials who successfully lobbied to lure the convention see a city on the rise, with a flurry of construction reshaping a downtown that was dead in the 1970s.
But Milwaukee has encountered difficulty rebranding itself. It went from an industrial powerhouse at the turn of the 20th century to a city in decline as manufacturing jobs began to disappear in the late 1970s.
“We’re much more diverse, much more kind of sprawled-out geographically, and certainly much more economically (diverse),” said John Gurda, a locally renowned Milwaukee historian who has written several books about the city.
Health care systems are now the biggest employers in the city, but Wisconsin and Milwaukee — home of iconic motorcycle-maker Harley-Davidson — haven’t entirely abandoned manufacturing. It remains a key sector of the state’s economy, though not at the level it was before. About 16 percent of Wisconsin’s workforce is in manufacturing — second only to Indiana but far below the 57 percent of 1951.
The convention venue, the $500 million home of the NBA’s Bucks, is the latest addition to a rejuvenated downtown. An arena district with restaurants and a 90-unit apartment building is also in the works — development the city hopes will draw visitors day and night to what was once an undeveloped area of downtown.
It is best to think of the convention locations as what they are: optics and window dressing to the political parties’ biggest show. As long as the media is covering it wall-to-wall, which it will be, the location matters mostly to attendees and the local economy that will hopefully benefit from the influx of visitors. But for the Democratic Party, their return to the White House will start in Milwaukee, and they hope to make their dreams come true, doing it their way.
The DNC encouraged Denver to bid for the 2020 convention. (Given that would be only 12 years since the 2008 convention, I figure they wanted a stalking horse.) Bids were due before the final dates were set, so Denver submitted a tentative bid. By the time the DNC set the final dates, Denver had to withdraw because most of the facilities the DNC wanted to use were already committed for that week.Report
Good Choice. Having narrowed it down to Milwaukee, Houston, and Miami… *not* picking Milwaukee would have been worse than never considering it at all.Report
A sound selection. I’m pleased with this pick.Report
Some Democrats had been concerned that choosing Milwaukee would open the party up to Clinton jabs, which Republicans immediately started making on social media.
Not every criticism that every Republican might make about the Democrats choosing to visit Wisconsin is necessarily a valid criticism, but the attitude that criticisms that have a pretty good point at their core are better off avoided than addressed is, like, so dumb.
Is there a reason that the Democrats wouldn’t want to say “We messed up by not campaigning here”?
I mean, other than “but Republicans will mock us for acknowledging that!”?Report
If I were on the DNC, I’d be worrying a whole lot more about the possibility of a complete hotel snafu. Milwaukee is not that far above the DNC’s minimum requirement for area hotel rooms — much closer to the cutoff than Charlotte was — and there has been concern expressed that they are short on the type of luxury hotel space demanded by the donor class.
If Milwaukee can’t handle this, it is likely to be a long time before the convention goes anywhere that isn’t a large conference-destination or tourist-destination or both.Report
Yeah I certainly hope they’re working the logistics issue pretty hard.Report
” there has been concern expressed that they are short on the type of luxury hotel space demanded by the donor class.”
I thought in this age of Warren AOC populism, the donor class was being told to sit on a Shotz beer bottle?
edit – I guess there’s no getting away from that big Hasenpfeffer Incorporated money.Report
I certainly hope that the response to the concern about luxury hotel rooms that Michael articulates was “Good. There are fine Best Westerns and Hotel 7s in every town between here and Cottage Grove, and then more luxury rooms in Madison.”Report
Fozzy Bear had a great line in The Great Muppet Caper during a scene set in a Fancy Schmancy restaurant:
“You’d think a classy place like this would put pretzels on the table.”
That said, what counts as luxury to you and me probably wouldn’t count as luxury to the people we’re talking about.Report
“The jokes will write themselves.”
What jokes? This state should have been an easy win for the Democrats, and it ended up a very close loss. As such it’s a good choice.Report
I’m partial to the town of my family’s roots, to where I return roughly every other year or so despite my thoroughly west coast identity. So I’m pleased to see non Wisconsinites pleased with the choice as well. Suffice to say that not only does Milwaukee boast the largest music festival in the country (I know, JazzFest, SXSW, Coachella, Bonnaroo — but Summerfest rocks) and the best bar in America (don’t worry about finding the password, you can get in without one with a simple demonstration of trustworthiness).
More importantly, the venue will force Democrats to demonstrate they take the concerns of the Midwest and manufacturing workers seriously. Let’s hope they rise to the challenge.Report