MILWAUKEE \u2014 Welcome to The Campaign Moment. This week, we\u2019ll be with you every night through Thursday, running through the big moments and trends from the Republican National Convention.<\/p>\n
(Did a friend forward this to you, or are you seeing this on the website? If so, sign up for this newsletter here. And make sure to check out the Campaign Moment podcast.)<\/p>\n
Night 3 of the 2024 GOP convention introduced the nation to perhaps the least-well-known presidential running mate since Sarah Palin in 2008, first-term Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who delivered the keynote address.<\/p>\n
Vance\u2019s big entree came even as the Democratic ticket remained unsettled, with increasing pressure on President Biden to bow out and Biden\u2019s sudden disclosure of a coronavirus diagnosis Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we took away.<\/p>\n
1. Vance\u2019s speech sent a signal to the GOP of old<\/p>\n
There were two big questions with Vance\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n
One was how would a guy whose 2022 Ohio Senate campaign wasn\u2019t exactly a popular success play, in his big introduction?<\/p>\n
And the second was how would he address tensions between his own politics and where his party has stood for years \u2014 specifically his isolationist foreign policy and anti-corporate populism? Some traditional conservatives blanched at his selection, which seemed to signal a real shift in where the party is headed.<\/p>\n
On the first count, Vance delivered a capable if not exactly rousing speech. At moments, he betrayed his youth at just 39 years old, and he seemed overeager. His references to his humble beginnings played well. An especially strong moment came when he introduced his mother, whose drug problems featured significantly in his book, \u201cHillbilly Elegy.\u201d Vance said she was about 10 years sober now.<\/p>\n
As for the tensions between his policies and others in his party: Vance tried to play it off as healthy disagreement, but he also sent a subtly defiant signal to those he disagrees with.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a big tent in this party on everything from national security to economic policy,\u201d he said. \u201cBut my message to you, my fellow Republicans, is we love this country and we are united to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance then preceded to highlight two conspicuous issues: opposition to NAFTA and the Iraq War.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomehow a real estate developer from New York City by the name of Donald J. Trump was right on all of these issues,\u201d Vance said, \u201cwhile Biden was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump actually seemed to initially support the Iraq War, despite his frequent claims.<\/p>\n
But that aside, it is also important to note that both of these policies initially got more Republican support than Democratic support. It was almost as if it was a concerted \u2014 if seemingly magnanimous \u2014 attempt to shove aside the GOP of old.<\/p>\n
Later in the speech, Vance was more direct.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a leader who is not in the pocket of big business but answers to the working man, union and nonunion alike,\u201d he said, \u201ca leader who won\u2019t sell out to multinational corporations but will stand up for American companies and American industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe\u2019re done, ladies and gentlemen, catering to Wall Street. We\u2019ll commit to the working man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those comments weren\u2019t specifically about his party. But they might as well have been. (The message was also at odds with how Trump often pitches his own policies to wealthy donors.)<\/p>\n
These were the kind of comments that Republicans of the past might have seen at Democratic conventions and viewed as demagogic. Including them despite the pushback on Vance from the right was certainly a choice.<\/p>\n
(To listen to the latest Campaign Moment podcast, click here.)<\/p>\n
2. Gold Star families emotionally went to bat for Trump on Afghanistan<\/p>\n
A big focal point Wednesday night was the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, as Republicans sought to highlight a low point of Biden\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n
The convention played a video of family members of 6 of the 13 U.S. soldiers killed, and some of them spoke afterward as others stood onstage.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe Biden said the withdrawal from Afghanistan was an extraordinary success,\u201d said Cheryl Juels, the aunt of Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee. \u201cLook at our faces. Look at our pain and our heartbreak. And look at our rage. That was not an extraordinary success. The humiliation of our nation was not an extraordinary success.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was an emotional moment. And this is a significant liability for Biden. His approval rating was declining somewhat before the withdrawal, but it went underwater almost immediately afterward and has never recovered. The period marked the most precipitous decline in his image ratings to date.<\/p>\n
The featuring of the Gold Star families was also a notable reversal from the 2016 campaign season, when Trump actually attacked Gold Star parents who appeared onstage at the Democratic National Convention. Trump questioned whether the mother remained silent beside her husband because she was a Muslim. He also suggested the father was controlled by Hillary Clinton\u2019s campaign. A number of Gold Star parents strongly criticized him.<\/p>\n
Some Gold Star families have also criticized Trump for his reported comments dismissive of the sacrifice of slain soldiers.<\/p>\n
3. Vice President Harris was a big focal point<\/p>\n
With major questions about whether Biden will continue to lead his ticket, Republicans proceeded to focus more on the potential Democratic nominee-in-waiting, Vice President Harris.<\/p>\n
She was invoked repeatedly early in Wednesday\u2019s program \u2014 often alongside Biden, but perhaps tellingly, often in her own right.<\/p>\n
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) claimed the \u201cgreatest blame\u201d for obscuring Biden\u2019s condition lies with Harris: \u201cShe has put party above country, and she is as unfit in character as Joe Biden is in body and mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) linked Harris to the Afghanistan withdrawal, saying neither Biden nor she \u201cdeserves to be saluted as commander in chief or to sit in the Oval Office.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mayor of East Palestine, Ohio, blamed Harris for not reaching out after a major train derailment there.<\/p>\n
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) cited Harris as being the face of Biden\u2019s border policy, saying, \u201cKamala Harris isn\u2019t able to do any job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaetz added: \u201cSo they can run Biden from the nursing home, Harris, George Clooney, Robert De Niro, whoever they want to run. We are on a mission to rescue and save this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. \u2018Law and order,\u2019 meet Trump\u2019s convicted allies<\/p>\n
A big theme Tuesday night was the rule of law and \u201claw and order.\u201d But for the second straight night Wednesday, we got a taste for how selective that emphasis is.<\/p>\n
Among those present were four convicted criminals aligned with Trump: former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, Trump-endorsing former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (D) and former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro. Manafort, Stone and Blagojevich, each granted clemency by Trump in 2020, were sentenced to a combined quarter-century\u2019s worth of prison; Navarro got out of prison earlier Wednesday after serving four months for contempt of Congress.<\/p>\n
Navarro was given the stage for a surprisingly long speech, in which he told the crowd, \u201cIn Trump\u2019s America, you didn\u2019t have to worry about being locked up for disagreeing with the government. I went to prison so you won\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Navarro was convicted after refusing to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee. While the subtext of his speech was that he was politically targeted, the judge in the case assured him earlier this year, \u201cLet\u2019s make clear, Dr. Navarro: You are not a victim of a political prosecution. \u2026 These are circumstances of your own making.\u201d<\/p>\n
Navarro claimed in his trial that Trump had asserted executive privilege over his testimony while he was president, but Navarro never provided direct evidence of that. And Trump advisers and attorneys didn\u2019t vouch for that claim.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, of course, a felon named Donald Trump will accept the GOP nomination.<\/p>\n
\u201cJeffries, Schumer privately warned Biden he could imperil Democrats\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>\u201cSecret Service was told police could not watch building used by Trump rally shooter\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>\u201cVance urged DOJ to enforce Comstock Act, crack down on abortion pills\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>\u201cWhere J.D. Vance stands on key issues: Abortion, guns, Ukraine and more\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>\u201cDNC sticks with Biden virtual roll call, despite doubts that it\u2019s necessary\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>\u201cHow has Trump transformed the Republican Party? Look at the platforms.\u201d (Politico)<\/span><\/p>\n MILWAUKEE \u2014 Welcome to The Campaign Moment. This week, we\u2019ll be with you every night through Thursday, running through the big moments and trends from the Republican National Convention. (Did a friend forward this to you, or are you seeing this on the website? If so, sign up for this newsletter here. And make sure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}