RIP GOP After RNC in CLE?

Dan Senor's observation about a divided Republican Party was epitomized by a recent gathering on Capitol Hill. The Dubliner Pub hosted an unusual viewing party for Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump's (R-NY) acceptance speech.  Former Hill Rats and GOP Administration alumni gathered for a wake for the Republican Party. 

Lest one be lured into a facile understanding that these are just sour grapes of Republican Establishment flunkies chaffing at meeting the new boss of the party, the chasm between outsiders and establishment is not a clean cut.  While four GOP standard bearers including former President George H.W. Bush ('88 and; '92 nominee),  former President George W. Bush ('00 and '04 nominee), ex Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA '12 nominee) and  Senator John McCain (R-AZ  '08 nominee) consciously chose to skip the RNC in CLE, this disdain was not universal.  Melania Trump recognized from the dais ex Senator Bob Dole ( R-KS '96 nominee). Of course ,Dole conveniently endorsed Trump in December.  Moreover, many former Dole staffers have been joining the Trump campaign.

Establishment Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also attended the Trump Show. Trump winning works into the Cocktail Party agenda of eliminating pesky Tea Party types from between the beltways.  There may be a calculus by Cocktail Party chiefs that if Trump wins, they can cut backroom deals with him.  If Trump goes to ignominious defeat, then the Grand Old Party will have to rely on the Establishment as they lick their wounds in the 115th Congress.

Obviously, Senator Ted Cruz's non-endorsement of Trump illustrates the Republican Party in exile.  Cruz's Constitutional conservatism may make strange bedfellows with more moderate Republicans in exile.  But they can probably agree that threatening to trash trade deals like NAFTA, effectively blowing up NATO and ignoring back actors in the world under the guise of America First neo-isolationism is anathematic to the Post World War II Republican Party. 

First Takes on The Trump Show (RNC Edition)

The first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland was the regular season premiere of The Trump Show.  This was the chance for the presumptive Republican nominee to shine as he re-introduces himself as the standard bearer of the GOP. While it was not a Trump Train wreck, per se, there were some snafus which portend poorly for the future.

A standard operating procedure for conventions is to start with a benediction from clergy.  This ought to be a pro-forma prayer which raises the profile of a religious figure while asking for divine blessings upon the proceedings and their chosen leader.

 The Trump Show picked Pastor Mark Burns, a black evangelical televangelist from South Carolina’s high country.  Burns was a last minute addition after the assassination of three Baton Rouge Police Officers. Burns claimed that he was going to talk about unity and love.  However, Pastor Burns 187 word benediction alienated many evangelicals and mainline Christians  for his idolization of Donald Trump in prayer while effectively demonizing Democrats and especially the “enemy” Hillary Clinton. It would be easy to dismiss this bumbled benediction, but it may have set the tone for the rest of the Trump Show regular season premiere otherwise known as the RNCinCLE.

Casual political observers may wonder if political conventions do any real work, because what they watch in prime time tends to be speechifying (both electrifying as well as stupifying) and people wearing funny hats and odd apparel. Prior to the age of television and jet airliners, conventions could be both decisive and raucous.  But since then, with few exceptions (like the RNC in 1976 or the DNC in 1968), now prime time coverage is effectively a soft sell earned media party commercial framed as public service programming.

Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson

As he was emerging victoriously from the primaries, Donald Trump insisted that the party add some pizzaz and show business to conventions so that the audience does not fall asleep.  So The Trump Show started prime time coverage spotlighting luminaries like Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson and Scott Baio (from the 1970s sitcom “Happy Days” and the mid 1980s sitcom “Charles in Charge.”  Later in the convention, the organizers will amp it up by featuring lingerie models extolling the virtues of “The Donald”.  Alas, this is not a tongue in cheek suggestion.

There is some party business that is still conducted in the afternoons of conventions.  For the 2016 Republican Convention, there was an effort by delegates in the minority for floor consideration for future party rules. In the 2016 cycle, Donald Trump managed to win pluralities in many early primaries with a crowded field of 16 real candidates (sorry ex Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore was a Walter Smitty candidate this year).  Several significant contests were open primaries, in which a voter need not have been a registered Republican.  This may have allowed for a significant crossover vote by Democrats to choose to GOP nominee.  Some states also bound their delegates to the winner of the “beauty contest”.  Conservatives were also concerned about ceding grassroots power to the Chairman of the RNC, who could arbitrarily change the rules at the whim of the Republican Establishment.

Efforts to unbind the delegates failed in the Rules Committee last week, so conservative grassroots delegates fought to have a floor vote. It seems that the Trump campaign thought this was an earnest effort to dethrone him so they characterized this as the last vestiges of the Dump Trump movement and wanted to kill the effort at all costs.  When the motion looked like it might succeed, the Chair abandoned the dais for 10 minutes and then the convention unexpectedly adjourned for four hours.  During this time, delegations were said to be strong armed.  The Iowa Delegation was one of the petitioners, and they were threatened that they would lose their first in the Nation’s Iowa Caucus.  The Alaska Delegation was given false and conflicting information on how to submit the signatures for their petition.  A delegate from Utah was verbally accosted by some de facto Trump thug delegates who inveighed that she should die.

These hardball partisan political tactics are the hallmark of Trump Convention Manager Paul Manafort.  Manafort has a history of winning at all costs, as was demonstrated by the aggressive means of persuasion at the RNC in Kansas City in 1976 in which incumbent President Ford was seriously challenged at the convention by former California Governor Ronald Reagan).  Trump also had to distance himself from long time confidant Roger Stone after he “suggested” that Trump partisans get the delegates names of the Pennsylvania delegation and lobby them in their hotel rooms.

In the end, the party establishment ruled that the champions of the Rules Committee Minority Report were ruled to not have sufficient support. Although the insurgents submitted signatures from nine state delegations (two  more than necessary), the chair reported that three states had withdrawn their petitions so there would be no roll call vote but gave no more specifics.  Microphones on the floor for delegates to petition the chair or call for points of order were switched off. The Chair pretended to conduct a voice vote to table the measure, but despite thunderous opposition, it was killed by the Establishment on the dais.

The media, which had not been given access during the convention kerfluffle, was fed a line that this was the end of the Dump Trump movement, even though that was not the realistic goal of vote on the minority report. The Trump Show was not to be pre-empted by unscheduled convention business.

From an impartial politico perspective, the impetus to quash this roll call vote was imprudent.  The insurgents knew that they didn’t have enough votes to prevail.  Presumably, many of these delegates were Tea Party inspired and they just wanted to play it out to honor the rule of law. By crushing dissent, it calls into question the confidence of the Trump campaign.  In a broader perspective, slapping down dissent does little to build party unity or loyalty. It also shows an imperious, autocratic approach which is incompatible in a democratically elected Republic with rule of law.

A third gaffe was stepping on message.  The theme of the evening was “Making America Safe Again”, playing off the Trump mantra “Make America Great Again”. To wit, The Trump Show arranged to have Pat Smith, mother of Sean Smith who was slain during the 09/11/2012 Bengazi bungle. Mrs. Smith gave emotional speech in which she blamed presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for her son’s death. Pat Smith also acknowledged a sign from the crowd which read “Hillary for Prison”.

Benghazi Mother Pat Smith at the 2016 Republican National Convention

 These points were right on message with the emphasis for improving National Security and demonizing Hillary Clinton (in more than just the benediction).  But many viewers of the Trump Show on the Fox News Channel missed out on these momentous moments, as this was the time Donald Trump chose to call into Bill O’Reilly and insist that he was not a racist. For a guy who’s widely acclaimed as a media genius, Trump either was not served well by his media hog instincts or his staff was remiss in conveying the conflict.

Then there is matter of scheduling speakers. The highlight of the first night of The Trump Show (the RNC edition) was supposed to be the candidate’s wife, ex supermodel Melania Trump, She took the stage after The Donald entered the dais with great flair to introduce her a little after 10 PM EDT.  Melania spoke for around 20 minutes, which was remarkable for a non-professional speaker for which English is a fourth language.

Melania Trump at 2016 Republican National Convention

 But after the sexy spouse left the stage, the media more or less cut away for the night for commentary, though Fox News carried some of Lt. General Michael Flynn’s comments about National Security.  Several speakers later, Republican rising star Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) spoke to a mostly empty Quicken Loans arena. It is sad to consider that both Flynn and Ernst were touted to be Trump running mates, yet both got the short end of the deal with order on the platform. If Trump or his cohort cared about building the GOP brand, the speaker’s schedule could have easily been adjusted to effectively finish prime time with Melania while bolstering the party’s position with respected representatives on center stage with a spotlight.  But the Trump Show seems to be all about Trump and the Trump Family (and Trump Wine).

Although Melania gave a good supportive spouse speech, what people will remember is the plagiarism.  Melania spoke of how she was raised, she declared:

"My parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect.”

This paragraph echoes almost word for word how Michelle Obama described her family’s values during the 2008 Democrat National Convention. Miraculously, this similarity was immediately trumpeted on Twitter by writer Jarrett Hill minutes after Melania uttered the “mimeographed” maxims. This became the talk of the town.  This was only fueled by Trump campaign staff denials with aggressive counter-punching.  Trump Convention Manager Paul Manafort asserted:

Trump Convention Manager Paul Manafort

“There’s no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech.  These were common words and values that she cares about her family and things like that,. I mean, she was speaking in front of 35 million people last night, she knew that. To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy...“I mean, this is, once again, an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, how she seeks out to demean her and take her down. It's not going to work.”

So Manafort denied the obvious and somehow claimed that the kerfluffle was Hillary Clinton’s fault? Right.  The Trump Campaign turned a tempest in a teapot into a torrent of off-message newspegs.  It all would have gone away had Manafort or aides admitted the obvious.  For a civilian speaker like Melania, there would have been little lasting effect. Instead, the incident reminds everyone of the thin skin of the Trump Campaign, which cannot countenance any criticism while in charge or admit error.  Frankly, it exposes the thin skin of the Trump organization.  Former George W. Bush White House Adviser Dan Senor quipped that :“The whole organization is an advance team and a Twitter feed...and that’s it.”

Milwaukee Cty. Sheriff David Clarke 

Rudy Giuliani at RNCinCLE

There were some positive aspects of The Trump Show (The Convention Edition). Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke (D-Milwaukee) made a strong impact to thunderous applause when he exclaimed that “Blue Lives Matter!”.  Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani gave an impassioned address in which he shouted into the microphone Hillary Clinton’s foibles from Foggy Bottom.  Some commentators appreciated the authenticity of Lone Survivor Marcus Luttrell. And while Benghazi mother Pat Smith lacked professional polish, her genuine grief which she attributed to the hands of Hillary Clinton was impactful.

The Donald’s WWE entrance was cool, but it seemed a bit overblown just to introduce his wife for a supposedly softball speech.

Donald Trump's entrance on first night of 2016 GOP Convention

From afar, it seemed like opening night of The Trump Show sated those convicted for Trump, but did little to build unity of the party or advance allies who can help implement the platform. It seemed like overhyped sizzle with little steak. Most of the Make America Safe Again evening seemed just about slagging the former Secretary of State rather than asserting an actual agenda. But that may be the theme of The Trump Show through November- Trump is better than the alternative (or so we hope).

Sheriff David Clarke on Making America Safe Again: Blue Lives Matter!

 

One of the most poignant political moments from the first night of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland was the remarks by Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke on America's remarkable Law Enforcement Officers.



 This proclamation that Blue Lives Matter by a registered Democrat dedicated to keeping the public safe will serve as a sharp contrast to the mother of "the Gentle Giant" (sic) Michael Brown, (an 18 year old  who was slain after scuffling with police in August 2014  that inspired the Black Lives Matter protests) who is slated to speak at the Democrat National Convention in Philadelphia next week.

Conan O'Brien on Cleveland

Cleveland has long been considered a blue collar bastion in the Rust Best.  Much of Trump's appeal come from working men who can't countenance political correctness and are tired of losing and seeing the debasement of American culture. Those same Trump types can seem coarse and intent to stick it to the Establishment. 

Pastor's Polemic Prayer Kicks Off Trump Show in Cleveland

As the 2016 Republican National Convention, a.k.a. "The Trump Show", kicked off in Cleveland, it was centered by a "special" prayer  from Pastor Mark Burns. Ordinarily, invocations are placid, pro-forma prayers which remind attendees of Divine Providence. But this is the Trump Show.

Pastor Burns was introduced as being from the Harvest Praise and Worship Center, but that's too modest of a pedigree.  Burns is a televangelist is co-founder and CEO of Now Network, which brags that it has an audience of 11 million.  Burns also is Creator, Executive Producer and Host of Lift Up Your Voice Gospel Show which allegedly has an audience of 45 million  on the Impact Network, But Burns hasn't abandoned his home, as he also co-hosts with his wife Tomorra Burns  "Rejoice TODAY" on the Dove Nework which reaches 2 million homes in Upstate South Carolina, Western North Carolina and Northern Georgia.

Well, the Trump Show promised that is was going to have star power and entertainment, so the choice of a televangelist for a benediction is not surprising. However, the content of Burns' polemic prayer deserves some discernment.

The prayer seems to elevate Donald Trump into an ascending super saint, which seems ironic considering Trump's ambivalent approach to religion.  There are numerous examples in which Trump's biblical knowledge has been tested (e.g. his favorite book in the Bible), Trump's emphatic onomania that "I'm a Presbyterian" while he was slagging erstwhile Seventh Day Adventist enemy Dr. Ben Carson, as well as Trump's faux pas of mistaking communion with the collection plate in Iowa. But Burns blustered that Trump believes in Jesus Christ so God bless him.

What seemed remarkable was a prayer which cast Hillary Clinton and the Democrat Party as the enemy.  Put in a theological framework, they are the Devil incarnate.  There is no rationale given as to why liberal's are not following an orthodox path for the polity, just that they are the enemy.  Four years ago, the Catholic Archbishop of New York Timothy Cardinal Dolan gave an ecumenical benediction to the GOP which extolled the virtues of America( freedom and liberty), challenged the faithful to remember all Americans, and humbly asked God for guidance and protection of  Governor Romney and Representative Ryan.  It should be noted that Cardinal Dolan also gave the closing benediction at the 2012 Democrat Convention, in which he challenged those gathered about religious liberty and abortion as he prayed for those gathered. 

The Pastor's prayer claims Trump as a conservative.  It is best not to lie when approaching the Divine.  Trump may have won the nomination, but it is deceitful to call an unprincipled populist like Trump a conservative. Such a perception may unjustly taint conservatism for a generation.

Burns' benediction prayed for unity among the GOP.  But those prayers were not answered as Trump Convention Manager Paul Manafort soon after crushed a motion from the floor to vote on alternative party  rules measures which were doomed to fail, but their voices were officially ignored via a rigged voice vote.  This caused several delegations to walk out and enraged vocal party regulars like radio talk show host Mark Levin. Unity does not come from showing your cohorts the back of your hand, that may cause compliance but not melting a heart of stone.

Perhaps it is a difference in approach and theological grounding, but Pastor Burns commanded God to give Donald Trump authority to become President and defeat the enemy rather than beseeching Divine Providence for wisdom and humility to lead our Nation. 

Despite Pastor Burns' benediction, hopes that the Trump Show will spur party unity needs more than hype and a prayer. Aside from ephemeral politics, this prayer epitomizes how so many born agains hopped on the Trump Train while regular church going evangelicals fret about a leader who publicly lacks humility, evokes values which seem counter to Christianity and seems to use his associations with faith communities rather than walking in faith on the campaign trail.

Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson on Donald Trump

Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson is slated to be one of the celebrity speakers on behalf of Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Yakov Smirnoff on Cleveland

On GOP Party Unity

In the week before all of the delegates gathered in Cleveland for the Republican National Convention, there were backroom efforts to instill party unity by respecting the conservative grassroots.  

On the Rules Committee, former Virginia Attorney General and RNC Delegate Ken Cuccinelli and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) worked to give sway to conservatives in the 2020 primary cycle via backdoor negotiations.  What seems to have ended the efforts was a call for closed primaries and a study group to examine the primary process, but not with the members hand-picked by the RNC establishment.  

Talks broke down and the Rules Committee defeated the motion to affirm the long standing Republican principle of Unbinding the Delegates on the first round of balloting in Cleveland.  

The only exception was in the 1976 Kansas City Convention, when President Gerald Ford barely beat out former Governor Ronald Reagan (R-CA) because of a change in rules (coincidentally also engineered by Trump convention manager Paul Manafort) to bind delegates.



Unnamed RNC officials quipped: "Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered".  So window dressing overtures were acceptable but anything that might actually endanger the GOP Establishment is a cause to crush with a vengeance. 




Even during his rambling introduction of his Vice Presidential running mate, presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump could not help but take a swing at his opposition, even at the eve of the Trump triumph, as he urged out of the other side of his mouth for party unity.  It seems that the choice of Governor Mike Pence (R-IN), a traditional conservative who will not upstage the top of the ticket is supposed to suffice for the conservative grassroots.
Pence for your thoughts?

Trump Surrogate Threatens Disloyal GOP Media Personality

[L] Salem Radio's Hugh Hewitt [R] Republican preumptive nominee Donald Trump

Recently, I was chatting with a convicted Trump-eteer who was incredulous at the assertion that the Trump campaign welcomes thug tactics to keep WINNING in their minds.  The Trump Campaign's Social Media Director Dan Scavino just exemplified the point with his threats of barring Hugh Hewitt from the July Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Hugh Hewitt is a center-right radio host with Salem Media.  Hewitt was so trusted to be tough but fair by the RNC that Hewitt was picked as being the Republican panelist at several CNN hosted GOP debates.

Because of his role asking questions to the candidates, Hewitt declared his show to be "Switzerland" until after the California primaries.

Well, the Golden State primaries have come and gone.  Instead of coalescing the Republican party and focusing fire on Hillary Clinton's foibles, Donald Trump himself brought up a racial rant against Judge Gonzalo Curiel in the Trump University fraud civil case in Federal district court this November.  Compounding the problem, surrogates implied that Muslim and women judges might not be fair to the Donald. Thus, prominent Republicans, such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) distanced themselves from the inappropriate remarks.

Hewitt was critical that Trump failed to address the Curiel kerfluffle.  But as a former Presidential ghostwriter, Hewitt thought the Last Primaries Victory speech sounded pedestrian and flat.  Moreover, the radio pundit found it cringeworthy when Trump incorrectly echoed a shout out from his audience: "What about TPP? (the Trans-Pacific Partnership) by noting that the "PPP" was bad, like pee-pee.




Thus, Hewitt vexed that the GOP will get crushed unless the delegates do something.

Hewitt did not suggest voting for Hillary. Nor did Hewitt vow not to vote for the eventual Republican nominee. But the radio host observed that it seemed that the plane was speeding towards the mountain on a collision course, which could well cost the Republicans the House, the Senate the Judiciary as well as the White House.

True to Trump form, Scavino threatened via Twitter that "hater" Hugh Hewitt should be banned from the Republican gathering in Cleveland.

Thin skinned, pugnacious and vengeful towards a media type who has been a loyal Republican since the days of Nixon.  In addition, Hewitt has a politically oriented national morning radio show sympathetic to Republicans and makes many media appearances on NBC, CNN and MSNBC. Smart--not.

Reacting to the hostile Scavino suggestion, Hewitt noted that he will be broadcasting during the RNC Convention in Cleveland and appearing on NBC.

Considering how Trump may still sting from blowing Hewitt's  nuclear triad debate question in December as well as the predicted Trump Train Wreck, Trump would not be expected to be BFFs. But to have a campaign surrogate suggest barring a reliable Republican from attending is Alpha-male insanity.

Trump loyalists love to note that Trump is not a politician and that he had plenty of success in the business world.  But this is neither boardrooms or "The Apprentice" sets; this is politics and governing.  In a free Republic,it is not as easy to control a message or dictate how others (legislators, bureaucrats, media) will act.

 It seems that Trump can not take criticism so he and his surrogates will lash out against offenders. Trump's troll like champions love that he will counter-punch.  But many times prudence is the better part of valor.  So instead of reinforcing Trump's Crooked Hillary line of campaign, the body politic will still murmur about racist remarks and another case in which the Trump campaign threatens a journalist.

If that's WINNING, it is dubious about who is actually being victorious. At the very least, I feel vindicated for perceiving thuggish Trump campaign tactics.

Who Should Be the 2016 GOP POTUS Nominee?

Senator Ted Cruz's (R-TX) answer at the Texas Tribune Festival may apply to many of the top Republican prospective POTUS candidates.  These precepts would form a great framework for the platform for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 2016. 

 But this presupposes that the GOP party officials will dare to stand for something.