Dems should jump at chance to hold their 2020 convention here
Republicans will hold their 2020 national convention in Charlotte, N.C.
Democrats will gather in Houston, Milwaukee or Miami Beach.
The Democratic National Committee gets to make that decision, and it sent a team to visit Texas’ largest city this past week. They were welcomed with a pep rally Thursday morning. “In this city, we come together to do tremendous things,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner, who was joined by a number of local officials, as well as Rockets guards James Harden and Chris Paul. Those things have included hosting sporting events like the Super Bowl and Final Four, and political gatherings such as the 1988 Democratic National Convention and the 1992 Republican National Convention.
But Houston might seem like an odd choice, given the context. Democrats are hoping to retake the White House in 2020. They have the option of holding their convention in Wisconsin or Florida — both of which Donald Trump narrowly carried in 2016. The DNC has little to gain by goosing turnout in Texas. Although I think this state could turn blue in 2018, most people still disagree with me about that; this may be emerging as a potential swing state, but it definitely hasn’t swung yet.
Still, I hope Democrats decide to return to Houston in 2020. That would be good for the Bayou City. It would be very convenient for me. After a long day of dealing with politicians, it’s nice to return to the comfort of one’s own home, rather than a Red Roof Inn in an exurb of Cleveland, which is where I spent my summer vacation in 2016.
Our brutally hot summers aside, national Democratic leaders should pounce on the opportunity to hold their convention in Houston in two years.
But I doubt that is obvious to national Democratic leaders. Frankly, I was surprised that Houston made the DNC’s short list. And I would not be surprised if the party ultimately decided to hold its 2020 convention in Milwaukee or Miami Beach, because the fact that those cities are on the short list tells me that the DNC is committed to making ham-fisted political calculations in full view of the American electorate.
Two paths in 2020
That’s not a criticism of either city. Miami Beach is fun. And I’ve never been to Milwaukee, but this Midwestern city along Lake Michigan boasts August temperatures in the 60s and 70s, so that would be nice.
But a party sends a message when it makes a choice like this one. The message that DNC leaders would send by choosing Milwaukee or Miami Beach would not be a subtle one.
Democrats are, at the moment, having a protracted internal debate about the direction of the party, because there are two paths they might take in 2020 that would lead them back to the White House. Democrats can rebuild the “blue wall” they were counting on in 2016, which runs through the Rust Belt. Trump smashed through it like the Kool-Aid pitcher, but it’s not clear whether he can do so again. Alternatively, Democrats could focus on boosting voter registration and turnout in the Sun Belt.
Democrats also could, in theory, compete in both the Rust Belt and the Sun Belt. In 1984, Ronald Reagan won re-election by carrying 49 of the 50 states. But by picking Milwaukee or Miami Beach, DNC leaders would implicitly prioritize one or the other, whether they intend to do so or not.
The host city for either party’s national convention is mostly a backdrop. The voters who live there are basically props. Elected officials who live in the area make a few cameos during the course of the convention. The grassroots voters at such events are the ones who live in the local area. And television is a visual medium, so Americans who tune in to catch Elizabeth Warren’s message will get only an occasional glimpse of her audience.
Genuinely diverse
By picking Houston, though, DNC leaders would be centralizing a genuinely diverse coalition of voters, composed of Americans who see diversity as a strength, not a problem or a threat. Also, such a choice would show that Democrats have set aside their spreadsheets and are truly planning to compete in Texas in 2020. Republicans would be unsettled by that, because a party that competes is a party that might win.
And national Democratic leaders would do well to consider the insight that the savvy Turner offered at the pep rally on Thursday. Their spreadsheets didn’t serve them well in 2016, even though elections are won arithmetically. That’s perhaps because voters aren’t jelly beans or abacus beads; they’re people, who sometimes come together and do tremendous things.