Last night, as the culmination of a heavily scrutinized Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Donald Trump finally accepted his party’s presidential nomination. There were arguable missteps (Melania Trump’s plagiarism scandal) and moments of unscripted melodrama (Ted Cruz’s anti-endorsement), not to mention a string of attacking remarks toward Hillary Clinton. And with the proverbial dust settled, as many people seem to maintain their grievances against the official GOP candidate as they rally around him.
With Clinton’s turn at the Democratic National Convention looming in the coming week, we reached out to Brett Broge, Chairman of the Orange County Democratic Committee, to reflect on the past week and gauge if Trump’s candidacy can sustain his promises to “Make America Great Again.” Here were his five top takeaways from the RNC that was.
Holy Hillary Bashing
“Trump spent too much time bashing Clinton on the same old things,” opines Broge. “There’s always going to be negative campaigning, but to make it the platform of your convention only plays to your base.”
Swing and a Miss
“In general, you need to appeal to the middle, and this convention has failed to do that,” Broge suggests. “Consequently, the middle is not going to be swayed. Trump didn’t convince the swing voter what he’s going to do to improve the situation in this country. Normally, a candidate sees a spike in polls after a convention, but my sense is that Trump won’t see a bump.”
Make America What Again?
“The second night was supposed to be about stimulating the economy, about making it better again after the recession,” Broge observes. “Under Clinton, there will be a balanced approach to trade deals, investment in the economy. She will set the country in the right direction. What is Donald Trump going to do about the economy? We heard one idea, and it’s insufficient.”
Anti-Endorsement
“This week has showcased the Trump campaign’s incompetence and highlights the absence of policy ideas to follow through on his fight to ‘Make America Great Again,’ insists Broge. “There was just a general sense of incompetence, especially with Ted Cruz not coming out to endorse him.”
Moment of Truth
“We had more of the same last night with Trump’s over-the-top language about how to make things great again, but it was without real substance and specifics,” Broge sums up. “From what I’ve seen, the statistics were misleading. Overall, crime is down, people are safer, and things are going in a better direction than they were eight years ago. Trump cherry picks this statistic or that statistic to try and make his point, but I don’t think what he utilized offers an accurate depiction of what’s happening in this country.”
