“Queer” used to be a slur. Then gays took the word back, claiming it as their own, as a kind of umbrella term for an entire rainbow-colored subculture in all its freedom and awesomeness.
My first thought, knowing that Chicago had captured the 2024 Democratic National Convention, was that this was a good way for us to similarly reclaim the adjective “Democrat” and the noun “Chicago” and hit them a little harder than before. lately.
For years Republicans have tried to turn “Democrat” into an all-purpose slur by cutting the ending, and pretending that the problems cities face are there because they tend to be run by Democrats, when when it's the other way around: cities tend to be Democrats. because they have problems to deal with, not laugh at. So, Democrats.
This was an opportunity for Chicago, the poster child for urban misery, to marry itself once more to a party that had too long seen the cloak of patriotism and efficiency stripped away, and by those that clumsily recklessly headed for treason.
First, some ground rules. This isn't our third Democratic National Convention, though that may be the default assumption. This is our 12th, having hosted in 1864, 1884, 1892, 1896, 1932, 1940, 1944, 1952, 1956, and of course 1968 and 1996.
New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt in Chicago after arriving for the 1932 Democratic National Convention in July 1932.
The 1932 convention is worth remembering not only because it led to a rare defeat for a sitting president. Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first candidate to appear at a convention to accept the nomination (his habit was to sit on your front porch and pretend he didn't care) and he did so by arriving in a shiny silver Ford Trimotor, making him the first presidential candidate to fly an airplane. flew in, arrived to promise the “New Deal” for America.
Otherwise, we have the twin 1968 and 1996 bookends as a guide. The first is a disaster that hardly needs explaining – a mob of long-haired protesters fighting the police. While the police are rightfully to blame for that, the disaster was set in motion by City Hall. In an effort to keep the protest away from the convention venue, the International Amphitheatre, Richard J. Daley eventually pushed it onto Michigan Avenue. The 1968 convention might have played out differently had Daley not spread the fuel the police lit.
Mayor Richard J. Daley and his son Richard M. Daley booed Senator Abraham Ribicoff, D-Conn., at the 1968 Democratic National Convention when he criticized Chicago police “Gestapo” tactics in dealing with protesters.
The 1996 convention is credited with revitalizing the town, particularly the West Side, with Mayor Daley's flower beds and wrought-iron railings. Distractions are minimal, though it can be credited for being held in 90s go-go. The kids are busy getting their MBA degrees, not worrying about being sent to die in Vietnam.
As for the economic benefits, remember Chicago hosts about a dozen trade shows which have a bigger economic impact on the city. It's not like this is another Candy and Snack Fair. And it's more of a media group hug, and the media tends to gasp for air over this kind of thing.
“An enormous economic and prestigious boon to this city,” Rick Pearson said Tuesday in the Tribune.
Possible. It helps that Gov. JB Pritzker has suggested he will finance the thing. Although I seem to remember Richard M. Daley cajoling all sorts of scent promises that won't harm you in the heat of passion, once he gets what he wants, the town ends up in the hands of many. , many cents.
Plus, as a city that gets the worst attention from political conventions, we shouldn't be throwing that prestige party just yet. After 1996, the city faced dozens of accusations of spying for political groups. And Google “The Chicago Five” for a cautionary tale about law enforcement going berserk.
The traditional balloon drop ended the 1996 Democratic National Convention at Chicago's United Center, where President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were renominated to run for a second term.
Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times
Remember that urges are mostly illusory. Political conventions, like the Olympics, are mostly losers, despite all the smoke and mirrors.
Remember: we are a free society, protest measures are not only permitted, they are beneficial, and Chicago needs to strike a balance between accommodating the convention and the protesters – who are also staying in hotels and buying lunch too, while not being extravagant, and also representing democracy in action.
As we found out with NASCAR, there was a huge inconvenience factor – Broadway ticket sales plummeted when the Big Apple hosted the 2004 Republican Party Convention.
So something to be proud of, but also a new challenge facing a city that already has many challenges. It's hard enough to make Chicago continue to be The City that Works. Now, a year from August, the Cities Working During Major Political Conventions. We can at least take comfort in one indisputable fact: We've done it before.