2020 Presidential Republican National Convention Update

In my view, the last night of the RNC was quite a production. Once again, there was a wide variety of speakers representing people from very diverse backgrounds. Yes, there were the usual professional politicians, like Rudy Giuliani and Ben Carson. But, in addition, there were a plethora of regular, everyday Americans, each of whom had a compelling story to tell. As on previous days, a few of them were former Dems, aka “walkaways.” The penultimate event was a speech by the “big dog,” President Trump. This was followed by the grand finale, a spectacular fireworks show produced by the first family of pyrotechnics, the Gruccis.

In my opinion, President Trump gave a rousing speech in which he outlined the various accomplishments in his first term and his goals for the second term. In a sports parlance he “knocked it out of the park.” More on that later.

For me, the following speakers stood out:

1. Alex Alvarez, a Cuban refugee. Alvarez, whose family fled Cuba soon after Castro seized power, told how the Dems’ promises are eerily similar to those of Fidel Castro in the late 1950’s and early 1960s. They sounded good (who wouldn’t like the promise of free stuff) but, ultimately, they didn’t work. One can readily see the results in present-day Cuba, and he fears that could be the US’s future under the Dem platform.
2. Alice Johnson, who had been incarcerated in federal prison for cocaine trafficking. Mr. Trump had previously commuted her sentence, and subsequently, he pardoned her.
3. Ann Dorn, the widow of retired St. Louis policeman and security guard, David Dorn. Dorn had been responding to a report of a break-in at a friend’s store when he was brutally attacked by the looters. Callously, he was left to bleed to death while the looters completed their theft and fled. His murder received very little attention by the mainstream media, because it did not fit their narrative of police brutality.
4. Carl and Marsha Mueller. Their daughter, Kayla, a humanitarian worker in the Middle East, was captured by ISIS terrorists. She was repeatedly tortured and raped by her captors for 18 months. The Obama-Biden administration was unable or unwilling to make a deal to free her. After 18 months she was murdered.

In my view, Mr. Trump’s speech struck the proper tone.

He summarized the accomplishments of his first term, including, among other things, a tax cut, eliminating many burdensome anti-business regulations, re-patriating jobs from overseas, reducing unemployment of all categories of persons to record low levels, prison reform, rebuilding the military, building hundreds of miles of border wall, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving our embassy there, and defeating ISIS.

He outlined his goals for the second term, including, among other things, rebuilding the economy, finishing the border wall, and re-establishing law and order in the cities.
He contrasted his record with that of Joe Biden and the Obama-Biden Administration, reminding us he accomplished more in just 3 1/2 years than Biden has in nearly 50 years.
He attacked Biden and the Dems for failing to condemn, or even criticize, the aforementioned street violence in the cities. He characterized Biden as a socialist, anti-middle class, and being soft on law and order and crime. (Note: Biden has since criticized the rioting but tepidly and only because of the polling on the issue.)

In general, Mr. Trump’s speech and the RNC as a whole, struck a tone of optimism and patriotism in stark contrast to the DNC, which was all about gloom and doom and racism.

CONCLUSION

Following the conclusion of the RNC there were some significant developments that bear mentioning:

1. Biden announced he intends to venture out of his man-cave after Labor Day to campaign in person. I doubt this was planned. Probably, his handlers realize that the tide has turned, and he cannot win if he continues to hide. As I reported in a previous blog this type of strategy has been successful before, but it hasn’t even been attempted in some 100 years.
2. A Cloud Research study reported that Republicans and independents are twice as likely to hide their true opinions when queried by pollsters. This lends credence to the belief of many observers that the polls are underreporting Mr. Trump’s true level of support.
3. Even so, the polls have reported that the race has tightened considerably. Biden’s lead in most of the swing states is now within the margin of error.
4. According to the latest Hill/Harris Poll President Trump’s support among AA and Hispanic voters has increased sharply to 24% and 30%, respectively. This is more than double the usual amount of support. If true, this is devastating news for the Biden campaign. However, in the interest of full disclosure I should advise that a Morningconsult.com poll reported Mr. Trump’s support among “persons of color” had actually declined slightly.
5. It has been widely reported that the Biden campaign did not receive a post-convention “bump.” Early indications are that the Trump campaign received a 5% post-convention “bump,” which is roughly the historical average.
6. The New York Times has reported that the DNC outdrew the RNC 21.6 million to 19.4 million, and Biden’s speech was watched by 24.6 million compared to 23.8 for President Trump. You can interpret those statistics however you want.
7. Pessimism is creeping into the Dem camp. For example, both Michael Moore and Bill Maher, strong progressives and anti-Trumpers, expressed grave concern over the “enthusiasm gap” between Trump and Biden supporters.
8. Probably, the worst development for the Dems, however, occurred immediately after the end of the RNC. Various media outlets recorded mobs of Black Lives Matter supporters physically attacking innocent people who were merely trying to walk home or to their hotels. Among the people being attacked were Senator Rand Paul and his wife; Brandon Straka, founder of the #Walkaway campaign, and his companion (both gay men); and Vernon Jones, a Black news commentator. This was way beyond the usual name-calling. They were in obvious life-threatening situations.
9. The Pauls were only saved by two policemen who happened by. This was very bad optics, particularly given that the victims were a US Senator, a gay couple and a black man. Perhaps, the rioters have finally gone too far. This incident may turn into the “Joseph Welch moment” that I have been talking about and hoping for.
10. Despite the foregoing, it is not even Labor Day yet. It may seem as though the race has been going on forever, but we are just now coming to the stretch run. A lot can still happen to affect the race.