Once upon a time, the story goes, a man leaped off a tall building, and as he passed each floor, he was heard to say, “So far, so good.” And so it is with Republicans and their get-together. So far, and, in fact, better than so good. From the assassination attempt last Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania to today, Republicans have been more notably unified than they have in 20 years.
Wait … Invincible?
Not since 2004, when incumbent President George W. Bush left the party’s convention in New York City and went on to win a second term, have Republicans appeared so united. However, what the Republicans pulled together in 2024 has been nothing short of remarkable.
Slate’s Jim Newell noted that in the last handful of GOP gatherings – featuring John McCain, Mitt Romney, and, yes, Donald Trump – “there have always been substantial pockets of discontent within the arena. If there’s broad discontent within the party among attendees this year, they’re doing an awfully good job hiding it.
“The only way to put it is that Republicans are feeling invincible.”
Biden’s horrific debate performance has been followed by a stream of Democrats from coast to coast calling – begging – for the President to step aside, to release his delegates, and loose the hounds! He hasn’t. He won’t.
Trump was leading heading into the debate. Following it, he led by more.
Then an assassin’s bullet clipped Trump’s right ear. The Secret Service surrounded him, and as the agents tried to hustle him from the stage, the former president raised his arm, pumped his fist, and yelled, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Raise curtain on the convention.
Moments Away from the Big Speech
Shortly, Donald Trump will take center stage in Milwaukee and deliver a speech that perhaps more people are waiting to hear than anything he’s offered before. Trump told reporters days after he was shot that he’d tossed out his initial draft and rewrote it all. He says he’s going to call for unity. So far, this convention has set a perfect table for Trump’s message.
A Diverse Lineup
Convention organizers were not messing around. Taking a page straight out of the Democrat playbook, Republicans pulled the diversity sword from its scabbard and went to work.
Monday night, Amber Rose, a biracial rapper and model, delivered a speech that CNN’s Van Jones called “the most effective” and “the most dangerous” for Democrats in the days ahead. Rose, taking a huge risk, stood in front of a slew of Republicans and said she’d been wrong in believing “Trump was a racist.”
Her father told her to do her research. She did, and she said, “I realized that Donald Trump and his supporters don’t care if you’re black, white, gay, or straight. It’s all love. And that’s when it hit me: these are my people! This is where I belong.”
Rose, next to Trump, is arguably the most famous speaker of the event. Her appearance drew some backlash from conservatives – Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh was apoplectic: “…[her] only claim to fame is having sex with rappers. Truly an embarrassment. Not a single voter will be mobilized by this person.” But, by and large, Walsh’s disdain was drowned out by conservatives who welcomed Rose and her message.
Following Rose, the GOP diversity hits just kept coming.
An Irish guy was next. Perhaps not in the traditional mold of diversity, he was white, but he was also President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Sean O’Brien. This was the first time in history a Teamsters president spoke at a Republican Convention.
A Unified Front
By the time the first two nights had ended, the GOP had featured:
- Current Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, an African-American.
- Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian-American who challenged Trump in the primaries.
- Nikki Haley, Indian-American and another Trump challenger.
- Ben Carson, African-American, renowned doctor, and former Trump Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Add in Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, among others, and the GOP was moving ahead like they’d been a united juggernaut, well, for decades.
Even the platform? Yep. Even the platform.
In 72 hours of nothing less than a televised group hug, perhaps the most under-noted but biggest moments came when there was no moment.
For 40 years, the Republican platform has called for a federal ban on abortion. That caveat was dropped in deference to Trump’s wish to give the issue for states to regulate. The ban was eliminated from the platform absent protest or fanfare. In fact, the entire platform has been trimmed by 50 pages, from the 66-page 2016/2020 version to a lean 16 pages that basically calls for lower taxes, no taxes on tips, and no national ban on abortion.
That’s a Wrap … Almost
No one would have predicted the week the nation has witnessed. Republicans are on a high unknown to them during the Trump era. But it’s easy to understand:
Trump’s pulling ahead of Biden in the polls, and then he’s shot at in Butler, Pennsylvania. He stands up, bleeding, and widens his lead.
All week long, President Biden has been fending off members of his own party calling for his head, while former President Trump has one of the best weeks of his life, one imagines.
Wednesday night, on the heels of Biden announcing he has COVID, CNN’s Jones allowed: “A bullet couldn’t stop Trump. A virus just stopped Biden.
“The Democrats are coming apart. The Republicans are coming together.”
One last speech and the convention lights turn out.
So far, so good.
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