Democrats have chosen Chicago, Illinois — the “murder capital” of America — to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention, in a puzzling decision that seems like an in-kind donation to the Republican Party.
The convention will be held from August 19 to 22, 2024 — one month after the Republican National Convention is held July 15-18 just an hour north, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
But while the Republicans chose to gather in a swing state, Democrats chose a solidly “blue” state that has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the 1988 election.
Moreover, the city and state are often cited as examples of Democrats’ policy failures.
Chicago has led the nation in murders for 11 years in a row, with no end in sight. Voters ousted hapless Mayor Lori Lightfoot — only to replace her last week with an even more left-wing candidate, Brandon Johnson, who notoriously called for defunding the police.
FILE – Chicago mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson participates in a public safety forum in Chicago, Tuesday, March 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford, File)
Johnson, a former teacher and organizer with the radical Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), also supports many of the policies that have failed children in urban school districts.
His proposals to raise almost every tax in the city has businesses and residents heading for the exits, continuing an ongoing trend.
Cook County — where Chicago is located, and where Johnson has served as a commissioner — is second only to Los Angeles County in people leaving for more hospitable locations, losing 94,344 last year.
But the Democrats — who may renominate President Joe Biden for reelection — may have history in mind.
Chicago last hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1996, when President Bill Clinton cruised to reelection. It is also, of course, the place where President Barack Obama chose to build his political career.
Republicans may focus on a less auspicious Chicago precedent: the 1968 Democratic National Convention, where radical activists rioted in the streets and violence even erupted on the floor of the convention itself.
Politico notes that President Biden himself was involved in the decision, along with Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison, choosing Chicago over New York City, New York, and Atlanta, Georgia.
It was the second time Democrats have snubbed Atlanta in recent years: pressure from the party and left-wing groups caused Major League Baseball to move the All-Star Game out of the city over a (later upheld) voting law.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
