Q Toon: My Convention in Milwaukee

The Democratic National Convention got underway in Milwaukee this week.

My ringside seat is no closer than anybody else's, since even the stars of the show aren't in town for the shindig, thanks to Trump's clumsy handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's a tremendous disappointment to the city of Milwaukee, which had fought for the rights to host the convention in part to remedy Hillary Clinton's having neglected Wisconsin — to her detriment — in 2016. 

There has been a gradual buildup to this week, but no one anticipated the crescendo would be inverted to a major bummer drawing only a few hundred instead of 50,000 people, $200 million in spending and international exposure to the city and state. Even the presumptive nominees, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, along with dozens of other speakers, will be Zooming it in.

Last month, DNC officials announced everyone attending the convention would have to wear a face mask, consent to daily testing for COVID-19, fill out questionnaires and maintain physical distance from other attendees. Those that do attend in person have been required to self-isolate for at least 72 hours before entering the convention and are being asked to stay out of bars. ...

Even the security zone for the DNC has been significantly downsized, leaving many streets that would have been closed in the downtown now open. Protesters and security around the Wisconsin Center are likely to outnumber the official in-person attendees.

That bit about asking attendees to stay out of bars has got to smart. One of the major bones of contention in this state before COVID-19 hit was Milwaukee and the Tavern League lobbying the hostile Wisconsin legislature to relax the mandatory 2:00 a.m. closing time for bars during the convention. Madison Republicans were still refusing to budge on the issue when it became moot.

Broadcast media are covering the convention from their studios in New York; print media are able to report in their pajamas. Nobody is sending their editorial cartoonist to sketch drawings of delegates in all their wacky regalia; there are no delegates and there is no wacky regalia.

This year's non-conventional conventions have the potential to signal a change in how these overblown circuses (circi?) are held. They weren't always the technicolor extravaganzas that they have become. Once upon a time, nominees didn't even attend their national conventions; that only came about as the rise of radio turned these relatively exclusive events into national platforms. Once television became dominant, both parties turned their conventions into flashy, heavily scripted infomercials.

If we make it through the pandemic by 2024, will the parties simply revert back to that sort of thing, or will the parties take this opportunity to change with the times?

Meanwhile, can we please do something about these godawful State of the Union addresses, too?

P.S.: Check back here tomorrow for another cartoon.