Donald Trump distanced himself from his own Republican convention telling the New York Times, “I didn’t produce our show — I just showed up for the final speech on Thursday.”
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What to Watch For In the Next Wave of Polling
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Democrats Win the Convention
First Read: “Hillary Clinton’s speech Thursday accepting her party’s presidential nomination was OK; she is never going to rhetorically outshine President Obama or her husband Bill Clinton. But what she and Democrats did achieve was produce a powerful convention that contrasted with Donald Trump’s last week in Cleveland.”
“While the GOP convention had high-profile no-shows (the Bushes, Mitt Romney, John Kasich) and a speech by a candidate who didn’t endorse Trump (Ted Cruz), the Democrats trotted out Obama, Bill Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama, and yes Bernie Sanders, who all testified on Hillary Clinton’s behalf. While the GOP convention focused on police, the Democrats featured both police and the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland. And while the GOP convention highlighted the violence that immigrants had committed and Benghazi, the Democrats introduced Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim-American Army captain, who delivered arguably the week’s most stinging critique against Trump.”
“In totality, the Democratic convention itself was flawless — with two exceptions: 1) the Debbie Wasserman Schultz mess; and 2) the few dozen Sanders delegates who disrupted Clinton last night. Taken together, the two conventions matched the persona of their nominee: Cleveland was chaotic; Philadelphia was disciplined.”
Virtual Tie In Missouri
A new St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Mason-Dixon poll in Missouri finds Hillary Clinton edging Donald Trump in the presidential race, 41% to 40%, with Libertarian Gary Johnson at 9%.
Quote of the Day
“Most people don’t care about it. I’ve had very, very little pressure.”
— Donald Trump, telling Fox News he won’t released his tax returns.
Schumer Predicts a Democratic Generation
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) “is feeling good enough about the battle for Senate control to essentially predict he’ll be majority leader next year. Not only that, the veteran New York Democrat believes his party is on the cusp of something much bigger: An era of electoral dominance,” Politico reports.
Said Schumer: “We’re going to have a Democratic generation. President Obama helped create it. But it’s just where America’s moving demographically, ideologically and in every way. We’ll have a mandate to get something done.”
How Big a Bounce?
Politico: “Clinton’s team accomplished many intermediate goals during their four days in Philly: The Obamas delivered a husband-and-wife tandem of historic speeches; Bernie Sanders went from being a renegade to a team player – helping to stamp out the last glowing embers of the revolution he sparked in New Hampshire; Clinton was applauded by several dozen speakers (led by her husband) who sought to reverse her negative image.”
“And none of that matters, not one bit, if Clinton can’t reverse Trump’s recent surge in the polls with a discernible convention bounce. She won’t get the 14-point boost her husband got in 1992, but she’ll take anything that moves the dial, that is to say roughly the recent average uptick of three or four percent.”
An Ugly and Divisive General Election Begins
Politico: “But as the 102-day general election sprints to a start, the reality is that both parties, saddled with two of the most unpopular presidential nominees ever, are bracing for one of the ugliest and most divisive races in modern history. And with Trump’s penchant for the unpredictable, a contest that has already stretched the boundaries of traditional American political discourse is unlikely to become any more civil.”
“For all the talk of hope and optimism in Philadelphia, fear remains the most potent emotion stirring the base — of both parties.”
Democrats Counter GOP’s Doom and Gloom
“The country’s two major political parties, emerging from their conventions to square off in the general election, are speaking to Americas unrecognizable to each other in voices that sound like a political and ideological role reversal,” the Washington Post reports.
“For Republicans, the country is a place of near-apocalyptic gloom whose best days are fast receding.”
“The nation of the Democrats who met here this week to nominate former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is a vibrant and diverse place.”
Russian Hackers Suspected In New Attack on Democrats
Politico: “Hackers apparently affiliated with Russian intelligence have launched a cyberattack targeting donors to the Democratic Party’s House campaign arm, sources and news reports said Thursday night, adding to the troubles unleashed by last week’s disclosure of embarrassing internal emails from the Democratic National Committee.”
Neither Is No Longer an Option
Reuters: “Many voters on both sides have been ambivalent in their support for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, complicating the task of the pollsters trying to track the race.”
“That sentiment may help explain an apparent skew that recently emerged in the Reuters/Ipsos poll results. Given the choice, a relatively large group of voters opted for “Neither/Other” candidate compared with other major polls, leading to an underreporting of several percentage points for one or other of the two major contenders at times in the race.”
“As a result, Reuters/Ipsos is amending the wording of the choice and eliminating the word ‘Neither,’ bringing the option in line with other polls.”
America vs. Trump
In the run up to Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech at the Democratic convention, it’s clear that Democrats are trying to make this election not about Clinton vs. Trump but America vs. Trump.
A series of very powerful speeches showed a wonderful mix of patriotism, diversity and love for country.
This one by Khizr Kahn, father of a fallen Muslim soldier, was truly extraordinary.
Democratic National Convention: Thursday
The main event: Hillary Clinton accepts the Democratic presidential nomination after being introduced by her daughter, Chelsea Clinton.
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Convention Dispatch: More Than What You See on TV
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It’s Not the Economy, Stupid
Jonathan Chait: “Since the start of the Reagan era, American politics has revolved around a war over the role of government in the economy. The Republican Party is set apart from major conservative parties across the world in its intensely ideological rejection of the state. And, despite his past rhetorical inconsistency, Donald Trump has faithfully adopted those positions. Yet that war has been largely absent not only from the rhetoric in Cleveland, which revolved around nationalism and identity, but in Philadelphia, too. The Democratic speakers have almost entirely ignored Trump’s proposals to deregulate carbon pollution and the finance industry, lavish tax cuts on the very rich, and snatch health insurance from 20 million people.”
“This is not because Democrats lack the confidence in their ability to win an election centered on these issues. (They did it in 2012.) It is because they have chosen to reframe the election as a contest over the much larger question of the sanctity of American democracy.”
Trump Sinks to New Low In Restricting Press
Huffington Post: “Even as Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has denied press credentials to news organizations throughout the 2016 election season, journalists generally have had another option: Get a ticket, like anyone else, and walk in.”
“But in a disturbing interaction Wednesday night, private security, in tandem with local Milwaukee law enforcement, detained and patted down Washington Post reporter Jose DelReal while searching for his cellphone at a public event featuring GOP vice presidential candidate Mike Pence. DelReal, who had already been denied entry with the press, was then also prohibited from attending as a member of the public.”
This Is Change
Charles Pierce: “On stage a young black man, the president of the United States, warmly embraced an older white woman in front of god and all the world. It is now an iconic photograph. If it had occurred on a weed-choked street in Mississippi within the lifetime of many of the people who were cheering the moment, the young man might have been beaten, burned, hung, thrown into a river with a cotton fan tied to his neck. A song began to rise through the history of the moment:
Southern trees bear a strange fruit/Blood on the leaves and blood at the root/Black bodies swingin’ in the Southern breeze/Strange fruit hangin’ from the poplar trees…
“But it was not those days any longer. The young man was the President of the United States and he has rung his changes on that song, and on an occasionally baffled democracy. Surely, he has done that.”
