It was a gorgeous day in downtown Milwaukee for Day 4 of the Republican National Convention. The sun was out, the temperature was in the mid-70s, and there was a light breeze. Then why did everything feel so…depressing?
Politics and candidates aside, this is what we saw, again: Towering security fences. Waves of police officers. A smattering of visitors wandering largely empty streets. Vendors hawking carnival-level merch. Hateful protestors screaming into bullhorns about the “wickedness of queers” and the evils of abortion. More police.
The Third Ward was fairly busy around lunchtime, though some places were noticeably empty. The crowd at the Milwaukee Public Market seemed…okay. (We apparently just missed Oprah, who was in town for a family funeral.) A vendor at the Market told us that yesterday was one of their worst days of business ever. Today, they said, was much better.
@Oprah visited the Milwaukee Public Market today! We feel lucky to have captured a photo of her supporting her niece and nephew-in-law’s small business, Pat’s Rib Place! pic.twitter.com/Te6Yylgz4X
— Milwaukee Public Market (@MKEPublicMarket) July 18, 2024
We struck up conversations with visitors. Everyone was polite and eager to compliment Milwaukee. We enjoyed chatting with these folks. It felt nice. It felt less nice when, moments later, those same folks continued their own conversations about “stopping the pronoun people.” So it goes.
Other things we saw: An RNC couple riding The Hop. Some RNC folks taking photos with the Bronze Fonz. A woman puking her guts out in the Public Market parking lot at 12:30 p.m. (We hope she’s okay.) More fences. More gunboats. More police.
So what can you say? Today is the last day of the RNC. There will be oodles of articles written about how things went, how things were oversold, and who, exactly, this thing was for. Was it a “complete dud”? Did Milwaukee restaurants and bars actually lose business? Even at this early stage, it feels safe to say it definitely wasn’t the citywide windfall it was promised to be. And, politics and candidates aside, it feels safe to say it definitely wasn’t for Milwaukee.
But whatever. We enjoyed the gorgeous weather on Thursday. We had a terrific turkey sandwich at the Public Market. We played some pinball at 3rd St. Market Hall. We looked forward to getting back to work on Monday, back to the work of living in, playing in, raising a family in, and celebrating Milwaukee. It’s what we do. It’s what we all do.
But when it came time to head home, we found ourselves lingering near the Bronze Fonz, waiting for a perfect grace note to end this article. Maybe a heartfelt conversation with an RNC delegate where we’d find more than a shred of common political ground. Maybe a random encounter with someone giving out free hugs. Maybe a run-in with a street musician who would drown out the bullhorn-amplified hate drifting across the river, singing about love and unity and tolerance and a future where this doesn’t feel so hard, so hopeless, so sad.
We waited, but nothing came. We guess we’ll keep waiting.
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