MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee loves its Miller beer, Brewers baseball and its “Bronze Phones” statue.
Milwaukee, a deep blue city in the swing state of Wisconsin, also favors Democrats.
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Some may find it hard to swallow that Milwaukee plays host to former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention, while rival Chicago, a larger city 90 miles south, welcomes President Joe Biden and Democrats in August.
That didn’t help smooth things over with wary Democrats after Trump used the word “horrific” while talking about Milwaukee a month before the convention, which begins Monday.
Adding to the tension, Milwaukee was supposed to host the Democratic National Convention in 2020, but that didn’t happen because of Covid. Owners of local restaurants, bars and venues say the number of reservations promised during the RNC did not materialize. Protesters also complained of attempts to attack them by keeping them far away from the convention site.
Jake Schneider, 29, said as he passed the city’s statue of Fonzie, played by Henry Winkler in the 1970s sitcom “Happy Days,” set in Milwaukee. “I’m not happy about the Republican Party coming to town.”
Schneider, who lives in a downtown apartment, said Trump “sabotaged himself” with his comments about Milwaukee.
“I hope he’s proven wrong and he sees what a wonderful city it is,” Schneider said.
Ryan Clancy, a state representative and self-described Democratic Socialist who serves on the Milwaukee County Board, puts it even more bluntly: “It’s a shame that we rolled out the red carpet for the RNC.”
Still, Democratic and Republican convention boosters point to the potential economic boon and opportunity to showcase Milwaukee and Wisconsin during the convention, which runs through Thursday.
“People are ready to host a convention that needs to be successful and take Milwaukee to the next level,” said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, a Democrat. “Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee, wherever that happens. So it doesn’t matter if it happens in Milwaukee. It doesn’t matter if it happens in Mar-a-Lago.”
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Milwaukee has gained national attention in recent years after the Bucks won the NBA national championship in 2021 and the airing this spring of the latest season of “Top Chef,” a reality TV show filmed in the city. A Milwaukee chef who made it to the finals.
Milwaukee has long been a target of conservative Republicans, who have pointed to its crime, low-quality schools and fiscal struggles as an example of poor Democratic leadership, as Trump’s “brutal” comment showed.
“I believe this convention showcases all the great things about Milwaukee,” said Brian Shiming, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. “But this is a city that, like many Democratic-run cities, has extraordinarily significant problems.”
Democrats chose Milwaukee for the party’s last convention, but the 2020 DNC became an online event due to the pandemic.
The city’s back-to-back election of Democrats and Republicans speaks to the swing state’s importance.
Wisconsin is one of a handful of battleground states that could decide this year’s presidential race. It’s one of the so-called “blue wall” states that Democrats once relied on, but Trump narrowly won in 2016, paving the way for his surprise win. Biden flipped the state in 2020, and both campaigns are targeting it heavily this year.
But there’s no swing about Milwaukee. It voted 79 percent for Biden in 2020. After his defeat that year, Trump unsuccessfully tried to disqualify thousands of voters in Milwaukee, mischaracterizing late returns as fraud due to high absenteeism.
Republicans say holding the convention in Milwaukee will energize their base. Although the city itself is democratic, the suburbs are a war zone within a war zone state. Once deep red, Democrats have been making inroads since 2016 as suburban women, in particular, turn away from Trump and the conservative agenda.
Even before the city was chosen to host the convention, Clancy and other Democrats urged Milwaukee to drop out of the running, as Nashville did after Democrats objected to hosting Republicans.
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But the biggest kerfuffle so far came when Trump used the word “horrible” in reference to Milwaukee during a closed-door meeting with congressional Republicans in June. Attendees disagreed on whether Trump was talking about crime, electoral concerns or something else, and he later said at a Wisconsin rally that he “loves” Milwaukee, which for some Democrats only reaffirmed earlier concerns about hosting Republicans.
Mapcroft, a Milwaukee-based brewery, tapped into the city’s Midwestern sense of humor and love of beer by releasing the “(Not So) Horrible City IPA.”
As the convention approaches, some local business owners estimate that the convention will generate $200 million in revenue.
Only one of the six theaters operated by the Pabst Theater Group in Milwaukee is booked for the week of the convention, said Gary Witt, the group’s president and CEO. Witt said he’s losing more than $100,000 by not using the venues, and he worries about the impact the convention will have on other Milwaukee businesses.
“If all these people are gone, we’re meaningless to them anyway,” Witt said of the conference attendees.
Demonstrators have been trying to spread counter-programming throughout the week, but have argued that they are being kept far away from convention sites.
Omar Flores, leader of the RNC coalition’s march, said he hoped the protests would be peaceful and take advantage of the national platform they have. After Milwaukee’s Democratic leaders sold us out, the city as a whole, and refused to listen to any of the residents, the coalition had to fight to get a parade route for the sight and sound of the convention, he said. Say.”
Clancy, a Democratic state representative, said he hopes holding the convention in the city where he was born and raised will galvanize liberals.
“I believe that a critical mass of people who hate us in our city will be enough to rally the primaries in August and November,” he said.
