Next week, More than 50,000 attendees of the Republican National Convention, including 15,000 media members, are expected to descend on the city. Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic deprived Milwaukee of the hoopla and economic benefits that it expected from hosting the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Milwaukee is back in the political – and media – spotlight.
Political anchors and reporters from all major national news outlets will deliver daily reports and host shows from Milwaukee during the week of the RNC, and several of them spoke with Milwaukee Magazine about what they’re expecting over the next week.
“Milwaukee will be a gathering spot for nearly every major Republican in the country. As a reporter, it’s like a rare opportunity to watch a baseball game from the dugout,” said CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa. “You really see the players in the Republican Party come together, especially those who you don’t see in Washington, like the governors and state legislators.”
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At least one correspondent believes Milwaukee’s could be a convention unlike any other – one fully envisioned and controlled by presumptive GOP presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump.
“In 2016 (in Cleveland), he and his team still felt they had to pay deference to a lot of the old establishment Republicans whom he had just shocked,” said NBC senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake. “In 2020 (in Charlotte), they paid deference to the country’s COVID-19 rules. In this convention, a candidate who fancies himself a master brander and master TV communicator can present his vision basically unfiltered by anyone or anything else. We’ll all find out together if that’s a message that the country is receptive to in 2024.”
Several media members coming to Milwaukee believe Wisconsin will once again set the political tone for the rest of the country, as it has for the past three presidential elections. Veteran Fox News anchor Bret Baier called it a bellwether.
“Wisconsin is the center of the political universe when it comes to the election. Both parties are looking at Wisconsin very closely on their map of how to get to 270 electoral votes,” he said. “It always seems to come down to just a few votes.”
His co-host, Martha MacCallum, concurred. “Wisconsin is incredibly interesting politically, and that’s the reason that the Republican National Convention wants to be there and make a big impact there,” she said. “At the same time, of course, Democrats feel that this is still their territory.”
Conventions Important but Evolving
After the scaled-back conventions of 2020, there had been some chatter that in-person political conventions had run their course, an unnecessary throwback to another time.
One skeptic is CNN anchor and chief congressional correspondent (and UW-Madison graduate) Manu Raju.
“I find conventions to be long and drawn out, and realistically they could be done in one day,” he said. “But both sides want to draw it out for days to maximize their media coverage, which will dominate the whole week in Milwaukee. In reality, there’s not a whole lot that gets accomplished at these conventions outside of adopting the platform, introducing the vice presidential nominee to the nation and for the presidential nominee to make their case to the American public.”
But many of the media members coming to Milwaukee believe conventions like next week’s event still have an important place in elections and politics, even if they feel scripted.
“Conventions remain a place where the nomination is settled,” Costa said. “While the Republican nomination is certainly set in place, you are seeing some active debates in the Democratic Party in how they are going to handle their convention. I think conventions have become important junctures in the presidential campaigns because they offer an opportunity for two key things – for a party to really introduce its message and platform to the country and for the slate of leaders in the party, especially an emerging generation of leaders, to make themselves known.”
Costa harkened back to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston when Barack Obama delivered his now-famous keynote speech.
“That elevated not only Obama, but it gave the Democratic Party a new face to point to as the next generation of leadership,” he said. “People are going to be closely paying attention to the speakers on stage in Milwaukee and what are they saying. Conventions are not just nominating events, but they can be prisms into the soul of a party.”
Baier believes conventions remain essential ways to generate excitement as the Republican Party works to put its best foot forward.
“It’ll be a good show,” he said. “It fires up the faithful. You see people with their crazy hats and signs and the cheering of the speeches and reactions in real time as balloons are falling from the ceiling. I remember watching conventions of old and getting fired up about politics even when I was young. That’s what got me really interested in politics. It’s very orchestrated now, but these events are still big moments.”
MacCallum noted pent-up enthusiasm for the RNC after the deeply scaled-back DNC in Milwaukee four years ago.
“We didn’t get to do this the last time around due to COVID-19, so for everyone it’s an exciting opportunity to get a closer look at the candidates, the process and the nomination and the big speeches on Wednesday and Thursday night, in particular. There was almost no interaction the last time around,” she said. “There is nothing like the energy in a room at these events. These conventions have become less important politically over the course of the last several election cycles in terms of selecting nominees, but there is room for surprises in these moments, and we’ll be looking for those. … There are always things that are unexpected. That’s why people show up. I think people are hungry to be in Milwaukee in person.”
NBC News’ Haake reported from Milwaukee for what he dubbed “the convention that wasn’t” in 2020 and said he felt that missing out on the energy of a full-fledged, in-person convention dampened enthusiasm of the state’s Democrats at that time. “Candidates only fully control three moments in an entire, years-long presidential race – their announcement, their VP pick and their convention,” he said. “Both Trump and Biden could significantly benefit from a well-managed convention to reintroduce themselves to voters and their own delegates. And that’s something you have to feel, not just see on TV.”
“PBS NewsHour” co-anchor Geoffrey Bennett, who’s covering his sixth presidential election, likened the event to a “political Super Bowl” that offers different opportunities for reporting than the usual coverage of polls and stump speeches.
“Over time there’s certainly less drama and suspense over who the nominee will be, but the conventions are important because it’s the way that the parties convey their objectives and visions,” he said. “The delegates who attend conventions are the most diehard supporters. There are lots of characters in these crowds. For me, it’s always fun to talk to folks who are deeply invested in a way that most people aren’t.”
Added Haake: “Any Wisconsinite with an opinion will have an opportunity to share it with visiting reporters like me, who will be hungry for real-time reaction to how the events we’re seeing on stage are shaping voter opinions – or not.”
Baier and MacCallum moderated the first Republican presidential primary debate at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee last August that featured eight candidates. (Trump chose not to participate.)
“We’ve been back to Milwaukee once after the debate, but we’ve been talking to people remotely a lot,” Baier said. “I’ve got crews doing prep work for a series of stories that we’ll do about what Wisconsin voters care about, the thought process of people who we talked to before that we’ll check back in with, and voters who are average folks and those with different types of jobs and perspectives.”
Added MacCallum: “As a reporter and anchor, I find that there’s nothing that replaces the experience of being on site and talking to the voters at diners or restaurants or bars or wherever we find them to really get a sense of what issues are most important to them. We love to get out from behind the desk and spend time with the people.”
Critical Swing State, Again
Those people – Wisconsinites, that is – once again figure to have an outsized influence on the election.
Costa has reported in Milwaukee “many times” over the past 15 years, and he knows the political stakes are high here. “As much as people want to say Milwaukee is just another Midwestern city, this is a place that combines all the dynamics of American politics in a real battleground,” he said. “It’s hard to see how anybody wins the White House without going through Wisconsin.”
The GOP understood that importance when it chose to have its convention in Milwaukee, Raju said.
“Wisconsin is the swingiest of swing states,” he said. “Elections there are hard-fought and intense, and they usually are determinative about who will be in control and power in Washington and even the state level. Specific about Milwaukee is the hope among the Trump team that they can peel away some of Biden’s support in the city and the suburbs. Having the convention in Milwaukee makes total sense politically.”
Haake said Wisconsin’s demographics are such that if the GOP’s message can resonate here, it will likely translate in other battlegrounds.
“There’s such a great split of rural voters, spread across the state, the deep blue dot that is Madison, and a big vibrant city with your prototypical suburbs around Milwaukee,” Haake said. “It’s a microcosm of the whole country – with voters who are used to being in the fray with tight statewide races, too. If Trump can overcome Milwaukee, Madison and the distrust of some suburbanites and win here, it’s likely he’ll do it elsewhere and he’ll very likely be president again.”
The political landscape of Milwaukee in particular makes it a strategically important choice as host to the RNC, PBS’ Bennett said.
“Milwaukee matters because of if its rich history, its diverse cultural makeup, its economic contributions and ongoing efforts in urban revitalization,” he said. “You’ve got major companies like Molson Coors and Harley-Davidson invested in Milwaukee, which contributes to the city’s rich industrial legacy. For all of those reasons, if the GOP is trying to send its message to the country about what it aims to be and how it aims to help average Americans, Milwaukee gives them a really good backdrop from which to make that argument.”
Costa believes Milwaukee will shine on its moment on the national stage. “I’ve been to Milwaukee countless times. It’s a beautiful city and I have no doubt that there will still be an ability for visitors to roam around and explore the area, despite all the security.”
High Security Is the Vibe
Several convention veterans noted that the high fences, numerous checkpoints and closed businesses inside the security perimeter greatly affect the way locals experience modern political conventions.
CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett, who covered his first convention in Houston in 1992, warned that such security measures now largely dictates the atmosphere around the RNC and the benefit, or detriment, to businesses.
“Security now dominates national political conventions, and it has for some time,” he said. “In Milwaukee there will be concerns about security and concerns about protests. That takes some of the old-time festive atmosphere away from the convention. It’s very hard to be festive when there are 9-foot fences blocking your way to parts of Downtown. In Cleveland in 2016, if you were inside the perimeter, some of those businesses stayed open, but they didn’t have as large of crowds as they otherwise would. And the rest of the city sort of suffered if you were on the edge of the perimeter because it all just feels so intense. Psychologically, it’s hard to let your guard down and have a good old time. But every city has to take this seriously, because these are big security events and as much as you want to accommodate visitors and journalists and delegates, you also have to keep them safe, and everyone involved in this is going to err on the side of caution.”
Milwaukeeans’ routines will be disrupted, particularly Downtown, added CNN’s Manu Raju.
“It’s going to be really hard to navigate the area around where the convention will be held,” he said. “There is going to be a ton of security, lots of delegates and politicians and protests, too, perhaps creating a somewhat tense atmosphere. There will certainly be limitations for regular folks from Milwaukee who are just trying to go about their business.”
Raju believes, though, that in addition to the worldwide attention the convention will bring to Milwaukee, there will be an economic benefit, too, despite the many inconveniences. “It’s usually an economic boon for the city that hosts a convention and I expect it probably will be for Milwaukee, as well,” Raju said. “Visitors will be frequenting restaurants, hotels and bars. Some people will be staying at hotels that are miles and miles away. That’s why it is so heavily fought for to be a host city because any city wants to experience the economic benefit that Milwaukee is likely to get.”
