In light of the election results, I thought it would be appropriate to repost my evaluations of each of the four nights of the Republican National Convention, dating from July 16 through July 21. Our mission, through the Orlando Sentinel, was to evaluate who won and who lost.
However, what is interesting to note, in the evaluation as to the centralized themes from the Republican Convention, is that what I dubbed as Flyover America in my Monday-Night submission did turn out to be the ultimate winner in this election and the ultimate loser was not Hillary Clinton, herself, but as I commented on July 16, the constituency she served, or more appropriately, patronized, through her elitist top-down understanding of how democracy is practiced in America.
Take a look once again at the posts with a reflection of what we all have in store for us over the next four years.
Central Florida 100 – Daily Convention Edition – Saturday, July 16, 2016
Who won? The winner in this decision was clearly Donald Trump himself. By selecting Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Trump showed himself to be a sober pragmatist with keen judgment. Governor Pence has conservative Republican credentials, strong relationships with the Koch brothers and other top Republican funders, a Congressional pedigree earning him the respect of his former Congressional colleagues, and a balanced demeanor off-setting the incendiary and volatile Trump we have all been exposed to. A surprising choice for Mr. Trump, given his character, but a good one for the ticket.
Who lost? The biggest losers were the Dump-Trump contingent headed to the Convention and Hillary herself. Regardless of whether the contingent would have been successful in any event, the addition of Governor Pence to the ticket almost assuredly tanks the effort, regardless of the fireworks or entertainment which might come our way in the meantime. Moreover, Hillary has to be fidgeting. First, the addition of the Governor balances the ticket in general and in the Midwest. Second, it will ultimately solidify the Republican Party including the hold-outs. Third, it adds a fund-raising component which has eluded The Donald to date. And fourth, it brings back into the Republican block voters who might have been inclined to go third party, particularly recognizing that existing Libertarian Candidate Governor Gary Johnson seems to be hurting Hillary more than Trump. A bad day for the Clintons!
Central Florida 100 – Daily Convention Edition – Monday, July 18, 2016
Who won? This may or may not ultimately be a convention for the Republican Party, but it’s clearly becoming, after some initial inconsequential drama, the convention for a newly forging populist party coalescing around the brute passions and untempered emotions of its chieftain, Donald Trump. And the clear winner of that metamorphosis (or schism as the case may be,) at least for tonight, is Flyover America, which has continued to seethe as it has watched its time-honored perceptions of America’s greatness relentlessly sapped by an intellectual climate of political correctness and year after year of escalating international erectile dysfunction. With or without his wife’s assistance or his celebrity billionaire status, The Donald has a long way to go to drag his party into the White House, and he obviously has to expand his message passed the disaffected, disenchanted and disillusioned, but, at least for tonight, he and his advisers have shown that they know all too well where Trump’s strengths lie, and as importantly, where Hillary’s vulnerabilities prevail.
Who lost? Hillary, unfortunately, has no place to hide. While pedigreed Republicans stayed home en masse to avoid being seen at Donald’s party; while the RNC Convention opened its doors to party bickering and nasty back-stabbing; while the political rule book for electing a president or running a convention got tossed months ago – nothing seems to help Hillary. In fact, through themes of homeland security, an elite military, regaining international respect, and speaking loudly while carrying a really big stick all got America’s blood boiling, nothing seemed to get convention attendees’ blood boiling more than the sound of Hillary Clinton’s fabled name. Name her and pause for sound effects. Name her, followed by Benghazi, and watch out for the firestorm. While Hillary was the clear loser tonight, it will be interesting to see, as we transition from the Republican to Democratic Conventions, what she will possibly be able to do to offset the liability of her reputation for deceit, or her Nixonian trait of simply being disliked.
Central Florida 100 – Daily Convention Edition – Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Who won? While it’s not fundamentally debatable that it was a very good night for The Donald and a very bad night for his staggering former friend-turned-enemy, Hillary Clinton, the real winner of the evening was House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose very demeanor and delivery declared gravitas. He was painfully forced to traverse a narrow blue line, clearly circumspect in his Trumpian praise, recognizing nonetheless that he may very well be forced to do the president’s bidding in some future surreal alternate reality.
In the process, however, he exposed to America yet again, for the second time in four years, why Peggy Noonan’s rhetorical question asking where the grown-ups are, needn’t fall too far from the political tree: We are watching a future president of the United States behind whom we are prepared to line up.
While I would have preferred that his allegiance to the Republican Party give way somewhat in thought and nuance to what is clearly his obvious personal mindset about the newly nominated candidate, I recognize, as I’m sure did he, the transitional responsibility he had in this strange moment in time: support the unification of the party while limiting personal veneration of its standard bearer.
He did what he was required to do; but what he delivered more significantly was a vision of America inspired by ideas, thoughts and precepts that underlie the very America we all aspire to embrace – today’s incarnation of Jack Kemp and Ronald Reagan – and the platform of our next Republican president: who may be running sooner than we may think.
Who lost? As I watched the lineup of freshmen Republican senators spreading across the stage, it occurred to me that the biggest loser of the convention is the Republican Party itself. I felt the same as I listened to Gov. Chris Christie, current Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
There is a calculus to what can be defined as the Trump movement (it’s obviously not a party). It comes from what I call a combination of the politics of disappointment, the politics of hatred, and the politics of retribution. But, as powerful as those might be at this moment in time, it is aided by the wind at its back in the name and image of Hillary Clinton. Were Hillary not the movement’s opponent and such an easy target, the chance is that Donald Trump would lose a respectable election and be a footnote in history. But Hillary is the candidate and this is 2016. Hillary is immensely vulnerable, Donald Trump is the Achilles of this time … and should he win, histories will be written. But, if not, his story will be epic and his very talented son, Donald Jr., will descend to pop culture like John F. Kennedy Jr., albeit as who appears to be a genuine Republican.
The issue is what that means post-Trump. If The Donald wins, the Republicans will face an identity crisis of 1912 proportions. If The Donald loses, it will take a defining moment to redefine itself.
Who won? Donald Trump Jr.’s pre-speech interview commenting on the current crop of politicians: “What’s different about this batch than the last?” It framed very clearly the zeitgeist of the Trump family huddles!
Central Florida 100 – Daily Convention Edition – Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Who won? The backstage queue of speakers waiting to reach the podium may or may not have been prepared to endorse, or even mention, Donald Trump, but what they clearly were there to service was the real winner tonight: an emerging mosaic of a reconstituted America — strong again, safe again, great again . . . respected again; not just by others, but most importantly, by ourselves.
With a broad spectrum of Republican luminaries missing in action at this year’s convention and others willing to show themselves in the light of day even as castrati, it is not clear whether the Republican tent will ultimately be able to accommodate those sentiments after this election is over, regardless of whether The Donald wins or loses. What is clear, however, is that the bell has tolled, and for those at the RNC Convention, they know it is tolling for us.
The winner tonight isn’t a party plank, or even a bumper sticker tagline; it’s a political perspective that touches emotions and mindsets not truly mobilized in this country since the nation’s emerging Republican, Democratic and Whig parties debated it over 150 years ago. It’s today’s portrait of yesterday’s concept. It’s called Manifest Destiny. As the Republican Party sharpens its messaging, we will no doubt hear more about that as the election unfolds.
Who lost? As I watched the lineup of mainstream and fringe speakers, along with friends and family, incessantly and passionately pound at deeply rooted convictions of American exceptionalism left at the altar over the past eight years by impotent elected officials in both the executive and congressional branches of government, I empathized with the real losers tonight: those Republican nominees who failed to embrace, who failed to grasp, who failed to even perceive how disgruntled the electorate — for Wednesday night’s narrative, the Republicans — are at the status of our nation inside and outside its borders.
Left to their own and their consultants’ prosaic devices, they debated each other over traditional, albeit lame, themes: who was the “true conservative,” who was the “true Republican,” who was the real successor to Ronald Reagan. And as they cackled among themselves, the fox bludgeoned into the henhouse and stole the chicken who had laid the golden egg. Left abandoned and bleeding in the ramshackle roost were several distraught nominees with exceptional records who would have served our country well as president.
One could clearly argue that we, the American people, are the real losers, but tonight, my heart and mind go out to them.
Central Florida 100 – Daily Convention Edition – Thursday, July 21, 2016
Who won? When The Donald asked, “who would have believed, who would have believed?…”, he got me. I certainly didn’t. But it happened nonetheless. And as he walked on stage, to a background of a toned-down replicant of “Non Nobis Domine,” I saw it all too clearly: Kenneth Branaugh, amidst the bloodshed and squalor – King Henry V – asking in besieging yet ironic anguish who had won the day in the morning mist at the Battle of Agincourt, told by the emissary of the enemy France that he, King Henry V, had, indeed. It was his.
It was a good day for King Henry . . . and it was a good night for The Donald, who knew the result all too well: he was the victor, and the enemies were utterly vanquished.
His speechwriters, who were internationally grounded and domestically nuanced, also coalesced around the themes, in real time, which have energized the audience . . . energized the media . . . and energized the commentary: the government’s primary responsibilities are safety at home, safety abroad, and safety in individual and free expression. As the narrative goes: elect Donald Trump and put an end to domestic and international violence, as well as providing economic prosperity for its workers. Trump “will make America rich and safe again,” said Trump.
Those are relatively obvious themes that somehow elected officials have, during these past years, appeared to miss as somewhat important to voters. And that miss is to their detriment. It has created in the past, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and today, it creates Donald J. Trump.
It was Donald’s day . . . Donald’s night . . . and, absent some defining event, the country’s next four years.
Who lost? Camelot is dead. And the Barbarians are no longer at the gate. They’re headed to the White House in a jet with big bold gold letters on each side. They spell: T-R-U-M-P.
When, as a young boy, I saw John F. Kennedy, Jr., his young family, and the cache of illuminati he was bringing to the White House, I was enthralled, charmed, and overwhelmed by my good fortune. At 10 years old, I read Time, Look and Life magazines cover to cover and so often that the papers were worn thin, the biographies of each and every one of the great talents being brought to bear to deal with the world’s issues. I felt safe and comfortable.
When, as a young woman, my mother, Maria Giordano, the daughter of an aristocratic family in Bari, Italy, saw Benito Mussolini stand up in multiple venues and declare himself not the “Law & Order Candidate,” but the “Law & Order,” she felt safe, but not terribly comfortable. A few years later, she fell in love with an American – my father – and emigrated to America, where she felt safe and comfortable.
Internal fear and irreprehensible anger make compatible bedfellows. And bedfellows they will be, at least for a short while. But neither fear nor anger can survive history. Not in an Italian Fascism. Not in a Nazi Dictatorship. And not in post-2016 Islamic State America!
Absent some catastrophic event, The Donald will win the election. The loser will not necessarily be our safety, but just maybe, it might be our comfort and grace, Barbarians at the gate: are we safe and comfortable, or are we just secure?
We’ll see!
Quote of the day: “Competence is easy to find, and incompetence is impossible to hide.” Ivanka Trump, introducing her father.