How to Save the Republican Party?
Jonathan Chait: “Conservative intellectuals have spent most of the past four decades claiming — especially during periods of Republican ascent — to be winning the ‘war of ideas.’ Hardly any of them bother to make such a boast now. Now that the Republican convention has given itself over to four straight nights starring Donald Trump — also featuring other unaccomplished members of his family along with some teens who were victimized by social media for wearing Trump gear — and abandoned its platform altogether for the platform equivalent of a MAGA hat, all the fun has been drained out of the exercise.”
“In place of the usual gloating, the right has been engaged in a furious intramural debate over whether to burn down the Republican Party in the wake of Trump’s expected (but hardly assured) defeat. Advocates for burning it down include Max Boot, George Will, Stuart Stevens, Charlie Sykes, Mona Charen, and Jonathan V. Last. Critics include David French, Rich Lowry, and Peggy Noonan. Somewhat in the middle lie Ross Douthat, David Brooks, Jonah Goldberg, Ramesh Ponnuru, and Kevin D. Williamson.”
“All parties to the dispute agree that Trump is deeply unfit for the presidency. They disagree about how broadly to define the moral and practical implications of that fact.”
The Platform the GOP Is Too Scared to Publish
David Frum: “Republicans have decided not to publish a party platform for 2020. This omission has led some to conclude that the GOP lacks ideas, that it stands for nothing, that it has shriveled to little more than a Trump cult.”
“This conclusion is wrong. The Republican Party of 2020 has lots of ideas. I’m about to list 13 ideas that command almost universal assent within the Trump administration, within the Republican caucuses of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, among governors and state legislators, on Fox News, and among rank-and-file Republicans.”
“Once you read the list, I think you’ll agree that these are authentic ideas with meaningful policy consequences, and that they are broadly shared. The question is not why Republicans lack a coherent platform; it’s why they’re so reluctant to publish the one on which they’re running.”
Neighbor of Gun Wielding Couple Speaks Out
“When Rabbi Susan Talve heard that Patricia and Mark McCloskey would be among the speakers addressing the Republican National Convention, she decided she could no longer stay quiet,” The Forward reports.
Said Talve: “It’s so upsetting that they have a national audience.”
“The McCloskeys are Talve’s neighbors. Their property’s northern wall abuts the property of St. Louis’ Jewish Central Reform Congregation, where Talve is the rabbi.”
“In 2013, the synagogue placed beehives along the wall to produce honey for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. One morning they found the hives destroyed and all the bees dead. Mark McCloskey had taken an ax or sledgehammer to them.”
“His issue? The fence between them sat six inches inside the McCloskey’s property line. The hives were his to wreck.”
What You Saw Last Night
The Los Angeles Times has the most succinct description of the first night of the GOP convention last night: “Welcome to a parallel universe.”
Republicans Portray Democrats as Menace to America
“Republicans began their nominating convention Monday with dark denunciations of Democrats and warnings about a future controlled by ‘radical liberals,’ while praising President Trump’s stewardship of the country, including his handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 173,000 Americans,” the Washington Post reports.
New York Times: “And they laid out a dystopian picture of what the United States would look like under a Biden administration, warning of a ‘vengeful mob’ that would lay waste to suburban communities and turn quiet neighborhoods into war zones.”
“At times, the speakers and prerecorded videos appeared to be describing an alternate reality: one in which the nation was not nearing 180,000 deaths from the coronavirus; in which Mr. Trump had not consistently ignored serious warnings about the disease; in which the president had not spent much of his term appealing openly to xenophobia and racial animus; and in which someone other than Mr. Trump had presided over an economy that began crumbling in the spring.”
Daily Beast: GOP says vote Trump… or get a Marxist hell’s cape.
A Parade of Dishonesty
“The Republican National Convention started off with a parade of dishonesty, in stark contrast with last week’s Democratic convention,” CNN reports.
“While CNN also watched and fact-checked the Democrats, those four nights combined didn’t have the number of misleading and false claims made on the first night of the Republicans’ convention.”
Pompeo to Address GOP Convention from Jerusalem
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will address the Republican National Convention from Jerusalem, spurring criticism that he is using his government office for political gain,” Haaretz reports.
A Convention All About Trump Is a Mistake for Republicans
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Quote of the Day
“You know I don’t have a history of dodging questions. But I don’t know how to answer that. There is no consistent philosophy, You can’t say it’s about making America great again at a time of Covid and economic distress and social unrest. It’s just not credible… That’s the best I can do.”
— GOP pollster Frank Luntz, quoted by Politico, when asked, “What do Republicans believe?”
Republicans Will Have No Party Platform
The Republican Party announced it will forego a platform.
Instead of drafting a document outlining the party’s beliefs and agenda, the Republican National Committee simply states that it agrees with everything Donald Trump has done and will do.
Many Republicans Still In Dark About Convention
Politico: “The lack of information is a byproduct of an unusual spring and summer, when the coronavirus pandemic upended two sets of in-person convention plans for both Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla., and forced top Trump officials and allies to scramble to hastily organize and pull off the convention in roughly a month. Planning such an event typically takes more than a year.”
“State party officials, delegates and operatives say they aren’t panicking about the dearth of information, and the campaign on Sunday did release a list of speakers for the four-day event, which is heavy on Trump family members and top administration officials, less so on prominent Capitol Hill Republicans.”
Associated Press: Trump campaign releases RNC schedule.
Republicans Rush to Finalize Convention
New York Times: “As Monday’s kickoff looms, Republican officials were still deciding what segments to air live and what would be taped in advance. Typically, convention broadcasts require weeks of highly technical preparation. By the weekend, producers at the major TV networks had only a foggy idea of what to expect, although Republicans provided a more detailed rundown on Saturday evening. Still, broadcasters will head into the week with some unknowns.”
“Republicans involved in the planning admit that anxiety began to set in two weeks ago. But on Saturday, they said that they were now confident that a fully realized lineup was in place — and that in contrast to the Democrats’ virtual event, voters could expect something more akin to a regular convention, with a focus on live onstage moments featuring Mr. Trump, whom aides described as the week’s ‘talent in chief.”
Trump Will Speak Every Night of Convention
The New York Times confirms that President Trump plans to speak on all four nights of the Republican convention.
Trump will reportedly take the stage at 10 p.m. ET each night.
Two producers of “The Apprentice,” where Trump rose to TV stardom, are involved in the planning of the event.
The GOP Is Not a Majority Party
Harry Enten: “If President Trump, in fact, loses the popular vote in 2020, it will be the first time since the founding of the Democratic Party in 1828 that either the Democratic or Republican Party has lost the popular vote this many times in a span of eight elections…”
“Pretty much none of the nonpartisan analysts I know expect Trump to win the popular vote. Today, former Vice President Joe Biden leads the national polls by somewhere around 8 to 10 points nationally. A high number of Trump’s paths to a second term revolve around him pulling off a win in the electoral college, while losing the popular vote, just as he did in 2016.”
“A loss by Trump this year would mean the Republicans have lost the popular vote 7 out of the last 8 elections since 1992.”
Trump Will Appear Every Night of Convention
Lara Trump told NBC News that President Trump will be part of the GOP convention “every single night.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“Let me be very clear. There is no place for QAnon in the Republican Party. I do not support it and the candidate you talked about has denounced it.”
— House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), on Fox News.
‘It’s Like They Had a Lobotomy’
When Hillary Clinton was asked by MSNBC about her former Republican colleagues bowing to President Trump, she said it’s like they a had “a lobotomy or something.”
She continued: “They just have given up their principles, their values, their backbone to following Trump, regardless of where he leads, which they know, and I believe they know is, you know, unconstitutional, often illegal, reckless, wrong, whatever adjective you want to use. So I can’t explain it… I give credit to people like Mitt Romney who do stand up and speak out. But I wish that there had been more like Margaret Chase Smith, who was the first Republican senator who spoke out against Joe McCarthy back in the early 50s, you know where is that kind of leadership and it really saddens me that it seems to be absent.”
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