As the son of a Milwaukee tavern-owner dad and a Democratic-activist, seamstress mom, I was excited the 2020 Democratic National Convention would be in the “Great City on a Great Lake.” I even made plans with Milwaukee family members to sleep on their floor, so I could mingle at the convention with politicians, delegates, and journalists during the city’s big moment in the national spotlight.
Former President Barack Obama targeted Trump with a lethal laser-like focus: “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously. But he never did.”
But, as we all know, a hellish 2020 arrived—not just the deepening authoritarianism, meanness, and corruption in the White House, but the nasty, lethal coronavirus that disrupted society as we knew it, creating upheaval in our economic, political, and social lives.
When the delayed convention switched to mostly virtual, I still wanted to make the 1,000-mile road trip from Colorado to Wisconsin. I yearned for a sense of hope that the country wasn’t lost—that our health care, justice, and educational systems, our economy, and our democracy aren’t beyond repair.
Heck, as a journalism professor, I’d be happy with a little truth.
Democrats have long given me a sense that things can be better. While my late dad, who earned a Purple Heart in the Second Armored Division (“Hell on Wheels”) during World War II, was more on the conservative side—he once criticized the “Impeach Nixon” stickers plastered on my seventh-grade notebook—my late mom knew and campaigned for her local Democratic Congressmember, her state representative, and the city’s mayor.
Kris Kodrich
Protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the Democratic National Convention.
The politicking rubbed off on me, as I worked at age twelve in presidential candidate Ed Muskie’s Milwaukee campaign office, stuffing bumper stickers into envelopes, and then switching over to George McGovern’s campaign for the general election.
I knew even then that Democrats were on the right side of modern history—pushing for equal rights, fairer wages, and voting rights for all. And who would have thought that basics like relying on science to beat a pandemic, protecting health care, stopping foreign interference in our elections, and defending the U.S. Postal Service could ever be partisan issues.
So, just prior to this year’s convention, I traveled across the plains of Nebraska and the devastated farmland of Iowa, battered by the hurricane-force winds a few days earlier that destroyed homes, businesses, barns, silos, and crops. Driving through the trampled state, I couldn’t help but think of “American carnage,” the phrase President Donald Trump used in his inaugural address in 2017—except I also was thinking of the broader devastation of the past three and a half years, the sinking economy, the tarnished White House, and the mismanaged response to the deadly pandemic.
At first, my Milwaukee DNC visit was disappointing, as the streets surrounding the convention center were nearly vacant. The police, sitting on their Milwaukee-made Harley-Davidson motorcycles along the fenced perimeter, outnumbered everyone else.
Outside a quiet sports bar, the sandwich board read, “Welcome DNC! Media! Protesters! If you’re here, we love you!” I decided then that my days would be spent wandering Lake Michigan beaches and my nights would include watching the virtual convention from my brother’s living room, where the beer and commentary were free.
Kris Kodrich
A sign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the Democratic National Convention.
My brother and his wife are both Democrats, while my sister and her husband in rural Wisconsin, as well as my brother in San Diego, are diehard Republicans. Like many families in the swing state of Wisconsin, we are politically divided, as are my “America’s Dairyland” friends.
As for the convention itself, nobody expected the pandemic edition would be this good. The politicians seemed to talk intimately to Americans in their homes. The speeches were short and to the point. Amazingly, Bill Clinton even kept his address to five minutes.
In the end, I’d have to say this was a pretty darn good convention, especially considering it came amid a pandemic.
Some viewers felt that certain speakers should have had more time, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who still managed to pack in a litany of progressive causes, including guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, labor rights; she touched on racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, homophobia, and immigration as she praised a “movement that realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many.”
“Real” Americans came across well—whether it was cheering from their sofas or sharing their personal stories. Kristin Urquiza talked about losing her father to COVID-19.
“My dad was a healthy sixty-five-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life.” Thirteen-year-old Brayden Harrington talked about meeting Biden and how he helped him with his stuttering. “Joe Biden made me more confident about something that’s bothered me my whole life.”
The virtual roll call showcasing each state and territory—from a beach in California to the New York City skyline—was an overwhelming success. The folks promoting calamari from Rhode Island were a hit. The emcees, ranging from the serious Eva Longoria to the hilarious Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Joe Biden goes to church so regularly that he doesn’t even need tear gas and a bunch of federalized troops to help him get there”) were brief. The musical performers, such as Billie Eilish and Maggie Rogers, were brilliant.
DNC speeches also seemed to capture the moment. Michelle Obama had a remarkable speech that slammed Trump. “He is clearly in over his head.” Jill Biden spoke with a teacher’s certainty as she spoke of her husband’s good character. Former President Barack Obama targeted Trump with a lethal laser-like focus: “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously, that he might come to feel the weight of the office—discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care. But he never did.” Vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris talked primarily about her own background. But she still got a few slams in. “I know a predator when I see one,” she said.
On the final night, it was Joe Biden’s turn to shine. He targeted Trump—“Our current President has failed in his most basic duty to the nation. He’s failed to protect us. He’s failed to protect America. And my fellow Americans, that is unforgivable.”
But Biden also showed that he is a strong, honest alternative to the current occupant of the Oval Office. “Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy, they’re all on the ballot. Who we are as a nation, what we stand for, and, most importantly, who we want to be, that’s all on the ballot.” His speech did indeed resonate—yes, the fact that it was only twenty-four minutes long helped, but lines like “I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness,” also stirred up vivid imagery.
In the end, I’d have to say this was a pretty darn good convention, especially considering it came amid a pandemic. Still, my Wisconsin brother noted that he thinks the Republican convention will be even better.
“Lies are much more interesting than facts.” Personally, I think we may see more of this virtual format in future conventions. Who can argue with short speeches, colorful roll calls, a sea of diverse faces and voices? Nevertheless, I still had a few problems with it. For starters, that slogan, “Build. Back. Better.” sounds concocted by bureaucrats. C’mon, Joe. You can do much better than that.
After hearing me complain about it every time a convention speaker awkwardly fit the phrase into his or her comments, my sister-in-law finally admitted, “It doesn’t roll off the tongue.”
On the last night of the convention, I finally found some action on the streets outside the convention hall. Several hundred protesters marched in support of Black Lives Matter, immigration reform, marijuana legalization, and other causes.
Nearby, a similar number of people watched as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic in an NBA playoff game shown on an outdoor big screen near the new Fiserv Forum, the Bucks’ home in non-pandemic times.
I noticed that while the protesters a few blocks away all had masks on, none of the basketball fans did. Biden, who proposed a national mask mandate during his speech, may have a bit more selling to do.