Why Trump’s Convention Could Still Be a Success

Bill Kristol: “I’ve been attending Republican conventions since 1988. As of the Wednesday morning of these conventions, none has ever seemed more messed-up, more poorly managed, and more generally headed to disaster than that 1988 one, my first, in New Orleans. The Reagan-Bush handoff on Monday had been awkward. The rollout of the Dan Quayle vice presidential pick on Tuesday had been disastrous. Vice President Bush had entered the convention trailing Mike Dukakis in the polls. On Wednesday it seemed to almost everyone that he was very unlikely to get the bounce from the convention he needed.”

“He got it. Why? Because Dan Quayle gave a good speech Wednesday night, and, far more important, Bush gave a very good one Thursday night. The fact is that the presidential nominee’s speech dwarfs everything else at the convention in impact. It’s almost always the main thing, often the only thing, people remember. It’s what makes a difference, if anything does.”

“And this is why, much as it pains me to say it, and much as the convention wisdom that the convention has been a clown show so far is correct, Donald Trump could end up with a successful week in Cleveland.”