Democrats descend on Chicago as specter of ‘68 convention looms

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Politico

Democrats from across the country are converging in Chicago this week to lay the groundwork for their upcoming convention, where they will nominate President Joe Biden and hope to avoid the kind of unrest that made this city notorious in the annals of political history.

Party leaders are quick to point out that they are unified at a time when the Republican National Convention has experienced upheaval, with Ronna McDaniel’s exit as party leader.

But Democrats have a juggling act as they plan a convention at the same time protesters are working to get front-and-center access to the United Center, though the demonstrations over the Israel-Gaza war are unlikely to match those over Vietnam in 1968.

 

Members of the Association of State Democratic Committees will get updates on convention planning, tour venues, including the United Center and McCormick Place, where daytime meetings will be held, and the eight hotels where their delegations will be staying, according to information shared with POLITICO ahead of their visit.

 

Party Chair Jaime Harrison and convention Chair Minyon Moore will be on hand to give details on logistics for the convention, which is just four months away.

And the word of the week will be unity, as Democrats attempt to make contrasts between Chicago’s Democratic convention and the Republican convention in nearby Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

 

Democrats say they have the convention’s logistics under control and are confident Chicago Police and federal officials will be able to manage the protesters who are expected to converge on Chicago for the Aug. 19-22 convention. Protest organizers expect as many as 30,000 demonstrators could come in August.

Law enforcement officials are working to come up with parameters for where protesters can demonstrate and how to handle activists who break rules including making mass arrests of protesters, a move that is drawing criticism from some First Amendment advocates.

The plans are being made without input from the protesters themselves.

The Coalition to March on the DNC has tried three times to secure a permit to march from the city’s West Side to the United Center but has been rejected every time, prompting the group to file a lawsuit claiming their First Amendment rights are being violated.

[Geee]

Can Chicago protect the people going to the convention?

As we saw this week, the mob closed O'Hare Airport and travelers had to get out of their cars or miss their flights. Was this a "test run" for the convention? Probably so. Add Midway Airport plus local freeways and moving around the city will be a nightmare. Add to this the shooting, and who in the world wants to go to the convention? The convention hall is going to look like a fortress, and who knows what will break out on the floor? The Squad will be there and that's a formula for madness.

 

My point is that this is a city out of control. Over the weekend, they shot 43 and chaos reigned again. Here is the story:

At least 43 people were shot, seven of them fatally, during the weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) Chicago.

 

ABC 7 reported Saturday began violently and ended that way as well.

At 6:30 a.m. Saturday, a 29-year-old man “in the Logan Square neighborhood’s 2600-block of North Sawyer Avenue” was shot and killed. Police do not know what led up to the shooting.

 

At 5:15 p.m. a 22-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds was found lying in the street “in the 7700 block of South Carpenter Street,” according to CBS News. He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Within minutes of the 5:15 p.m. shooting, two men opened fire on a 20-year-old man “in the 7700 block of South Union Avenue.” He was taken to hospital where he was a pronounced dead.

[Geee]

Growing campus unrest sparks Democratic fears over Chicago convention

Intense clashes between anti-war protesters and police on college campuses is spreading alarm among Senate Democrats who worry that anger over President Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza could engulf their party’s presidential nominating convention in late August.

Images of police arresting more than 100 protesters on Columbia University’s campus, including Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) daughter, have Democratic lawmakers bracing for chaos in Chicago.

 

It’s just one of several campuses around the country where there have been arrests. 

“I think if the situation doesn’t change dramatically in Gaza, yeah, I think it could be bad,” warned one Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to comment on the growing concern within the party.

“Are you going to the convention? Wear your body armor,” the lawmaker said.