In September, I wrote a post about the dysfunction occurring in the Waukesha County Republican Party and how it might negatively impact the operations of the Republican National Convention next door in Milwaukee this July. As we all continue to witness the disintegration of the Republican Party right before our eyes, my concerns about the Milwaukee convention have increased a great deal, given that I live only about 45 minutes from downtown Milwaukee.
I’d like to add several more reasons that the RNC convention is shaping up to be a chaotic disaster.
First and foremost, the Republican Party IS chaos personified right now. They can’t even pass their own bills. They are a hot mess. I’d say more, but that would be redundant.
Second, it looks like RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel is on her way out the door. I realize that the party chair has little to do with the day-to-day planning of a convention, but is it really a good idea to ditch the organizational leadership of the party a few months before their convention? It appears her number one flaw, according to Trump, is her inability to raise money. Instead of seeing this as perhaps a HUGE warning sign that people don’t want to donate to the Republican Party because they don’t like Trump or other Republican politicians, they are blaming the woman for doing a bad job. Trust me — I really don’t like McDaniel, but she is not the sole source of the Republicans’ fundraising problems. Again, changing leadership mere months before a major event is a really bad idea.
Third, Milwaukee has NEVER hosted a convention this large. Ever. It was the Wisconsin Democrats in 2019 who worked out all of the logistics for holding a convention of this size in the Milwaukee area. Because they included local business and political leaders in their planning, those local leaders have experience PLANNING for a convention of this size. But they’ve never actually pulled one off. And the Democrats had amazing leadership and were incredibly well-organized. Contrast that to the Republicans, who can’t even pass their own bills. I would love to see Milwaukee pull this off successfully, but there are going to be first-time glitches. Perhaps hundreds of glitches.
Finally, if and when Trump comes to Milwaukee to give his acceptance speech, he’ll be coming into a very blue area with lots of people who are very angry with him. The security is going to have to be massive, experienced, and competent. Otherwise...
Republican chaos in Congress. Turnover in the leadership ranks of the party. Lack of mega-convention experience on the part of the host city. And a nominee who is very unpopular with the locals.
Chaos.
I think I’ll try to be out of town that week...WAY out of town.
