A Wisconsin member of the Democratic National Committee said Milwaukee should get another chance to host the Democratic National Convention in 2024.
Democrats last week announced this year’s convention in Milwaukee largely will be a virtual event due to COVID-19, with many side events canceled and remaining events moved to the Wisconsin Center, a much smaller venue than Fiserv Forum.
Khary Penebaker, a Wisconsin representative on the DNC, said in an interview aired Sunday on “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com, he will “push hard” to make sure Milwaukee gets a shot at the next convention.
“This just didn’t go our way, through no fault of our community,” he said. “I think we definitely should get another shot at putting on a convention that gives us the opportunity to really showcase and show off how amazing our city and our state truly is. I think the DNC is going to have to take a hard look at that.”
Penebaker said substantive work still could be accomplished virtually when the convention convenes in August. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden also intends to come to Milwaukee at convention time.
President Trump is in a “perilous political position” four months ahead of the November general election, ABC News Political Director Rick Klein said on “UpFront.”
With Trump’s poll numbers falling in Wisconsin and other key battleground states, the race “has tipped significantly in favor of (former Democratic Vice President) Joe Biden,” Klein.
“In Wisconsin, as well as a range of other battleground states, the president has done significant political damage to himself by his handling of COVID-19, and this crisis over race, the economic collapse that we’ve seen, all of it has added up to a president who is probably in his most perilous political position four and a half months before the election,” Klein said.
Klein said it might still be possible for the president to make up some lost ground.
Also on the program, a community leader said people have to come together and talk about racial disparities in Wisconsin following recent violence in Madison.
“These are issues we’ve been talking about for decades, and I think we just have to put together a systemic plan, align some financial priorities around these plans, get in the boardroom and solve some of these issues,” said Michael Johnson, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County.
Johnson recently wrote an open letter to the community offering 10 solutions to racial injustice. One idea Johnson offered is taking 10 percent of the police budget and investing it in community policing and mental health care.
“Young people are tired of talk, they want to see action, investments made in their lives. They want to be at the table,” Johnson said. “We have to listen to our young people, respect their ideas, and also invest in the things that are important to them.”
In a night of unrest in Madison last week, people pulled down statues on Capitol Square, broke windows at the Capitol, tossed a Molotov cocktail into the City- County Building, and attacked a Democratic state senator who was taking video of the group.
Several weeks ago, some people broke off from peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and rioted on State Street in Madison, breaking dozens of windows and looting businesses. Many of those business owners have said they will not reopen after the damage and the shutdown caused by COVID-19.
“UpFront” host Adrienne Pedersen asked Johnson about the response from Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, who is taking heavy criticism on social media for her handling of the situation. Her office did not respond to an “UpFront” request for an interview.
“I have been talking to the mayor on a regular basis. She’s a new mayor in our city, and I believe she does care. But at the same time, I think we have to be visible, we have to make sure that we show empathy and support,” he said. “But at the same time we can’t allow people to, you know, burn down buildings, break down businesses, cause bodily harm to individuals in our community, and that goes for both Black and white folks.”
See more from the program here.
