“I personally think it’s a bad decision. I think they should be coming here,” Milwaukee Alderman Michael Murphy told WTMJ’s Steve Scaffidi about the decision of presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden to not attend the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee.
“I think it’s a loss. What the end result will be at the beginning of November, I’m not sure.”
He said that the loss of almost all of the convention’s events will lead to no significant economic impact on the area, when the original plan of 50,000 visitors would have led to a possible $200 million impact on Milwaukee.
“This would have been good for our state, period,” Murphy said. “It’s just so anti-climactic. For me, it’s very depressing.”
Murphy says that it is still key for Biden to appear in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, in order to win a key battleground state. 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton did not appear in Milwaukee during the stretch run of that year’s race, and President Donald Trump subsequently won Wisconsin and the presidency.
“Hillary never came back. That was a big mistake on her part,” said Murphy. “At least an appearance in the state is important. I think they’re trying to figure that out.”