The GOP national convention will be even more Trumpist than 2016 as many major party figures will not be participating. The list of speakers is more about trying to spin Trump success from so many failures as well as a brand promotion for post-presidency Trump enterprises.
This infomercial will feature more grifting opportunities as well as some tired attempts to fleece the base with some less-than-spectacular speakers. They’ll sell the GOP as harbinger of lands of promise, opportunity, heroes, and greatness plus six Trump family members including Tiffany. There will be grievances to offset Mary Trump and Maryanne Trump Barry.
Those of us who have had to put up with the 30 minutes of Trump idiocy in the near-daily press briefings will see four nights of the same in the 10pm ET hour. For those less familiar with the Trump stump speech for airplane hangars it will be the same speech each night with minor variations for specific enemies of the Trumpist state.
Expect delusional Sinophobia, Islamophobia, and character attacks on Biden as undead Trotsky leading a zombie apocalypse into the white suburbs. “Rigged election” will be invoked as well as anachronistic memes borrowed from the Democrats’ primaries as well as the usual racism and sexism.
Then there’s the usual stunts:
“Law and order” has been the overriding theme of Trump’s campaign advertising, but the ads have not had the intended impact on Biden’s image.
“The Republican convention has an opportunity to repaint Biden in negative light,” said Matt Grossmann, a political science professor at Michigan State University.
If convention speakers can do that, then the November election becomes a choice between the two candidates rather than a referendum on the president, as it is now.
The GOP convention offers Trump the chance for a reset of his campaign. At present his prospects for reelection look more than challenging. Some GOP operatives think the race has tightened a bit in recent weeks and that a more disciplined candidate and campaign, amplified by conservative media on the outside, could give Trump an additional boost.
For encouragement, the president can look back to 1988, when George H.W. Bush entered his convention trailing Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. He used his convention to begin a comeback that led to victory in the fall.
Ron Kaufman, a veteran Republican National Committee member who was part of that 1988 campaign, said of Trump on the eve of this year’s GOP convention: “He’s a vaccine and three good debates away, and I believe he will prevail,” explaining that he does not mean mass distribution of a vaccine before the election, but only that Americans believe an effective one is coming.
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According to the Washington Post, the Democrats will do something to rebut him each night. Matt Viser and Toluse Olorunnipa report:
“Democrats are preparing to release videos each day highlighting what they view as Trump’s biggest failures and showcasing the stark contrast between the president and his Democratic rival Joe Biden. Top party officials, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, will speak each day.”
Trump has already show himself to be an undisciplined politician who can often commit unforced errors. Each night of the DNC, he lashed out at the speakers over Twitter and during Fox News interviews. Liberals are banking on being able to troll the President into responding to their taunts and stealing focus from the all important RNC.
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