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Friday, August 28, 2020

A Trumpian Celebration

 

Friends, the RNC is now in the books, and it's time to reflect on what we've seen.


First, I give both Vice-President Pence and President Trump high marks for their speeches.  They delivered a lot of crisp, hard-hitting verbal salvos that are sure to land squarely on the Democrats and Joe Biden.  Frankly, neither man presented his ideas in what might be described as a "pithy" fashion.  Both made an expansive case for the GOP, and against the Democrats, instead.  That's okay.  Political speeches tend to be meandering, and both men had a lot of issues to cover and interest groups to placate.  The use of personal anecdotes to encapsulate larger themes is now a tried-and-true practice in American political rhetoric.  They used these anecdotes, usually supported by the presence of guests in the audience, to good effect.  I have no doubt that, overall, a great many Republicans and independents will be fortified in their resolve and/or won over because of what they saw and heard this week.  This is especially true given that, the mainstream media being what it is, much of the time the Republican message isn't even accessible to many voters.


If I had to fault the RNC and the Vice-President and President for anything, it would be the sheer breadth of their message(s).  The voters do like simplicity, and it seems to me that so many issues are in play in 2020 that it could be hard for Trump voters to boil down, for their neighbors, just why they're voting red.  Is it law and order?  Is it China?  Is it socialism?  Is it "cancel culture" and liberal intolerance?  Of course, it can and should be all of these things, but we need to be able to abbreviate our pitch into a slogan, or at least a number of bullet points.  That's a work in progress.


I have to say, I missed many of the secondary speakers, but I saw quite a few on night three, and many of them were outstanding.  How many undecided voters were watching?  A lot, I hope!  It strikes me that, for a party beholden to "white supremacists", the RNC featured a ton of minority and women speakers, and it made a herculean effort to overcome the notion that Republicans are "racist" and "sexist".  To Trump's credit, from day one he has reached out to black voters -- sorry, "Black" voters -- and with some success.  Polls consistently show that, while Trump's support in the black community is not vast, he can easily exceed the 8% of the black vote that he received in 2016.  This has to make Democrats nervous.  In fact, Trump looks set to expand his percentage of the black, Hispanic, and Asian vote.  Is it any wonder, then, that Democrats are playing the "race card" as if their political lives depended on it?  No.  They will try everything they can think of to try to shore up their minority support.  Now, it's not inconceivable that Trump could lose in 2020 simply by getting a smaller majority among white voters.  Be that as it may, step one to victory for the Trump-Pence ticket, it seems to me, is to convince as many people of color as possible to vote for Trump, and, if that fails, convince as many of them as possible NOT to vote for Biden.  Kanye, anyone?


Lastly, I think we ought to reflect on the fact that the Biden-Harris ticket got no discernible polling bounce whatsoever from the DNC last week.  Interesting.  For my money, that means that the Dems have hit their ceiling.  Enthusiasm for Biden isn't likely to surge any further.  It can, however, and probably will, diminish.  This is, despite what the media tells us, a very evenly divided country, politically speaking.  That means that Trump can win.  It also means that Biden can win.  It certainly means that neither candidate is likely to win in a landslide.  

 

And that means, as we've noted before, that our election will probably be contested.  Ergo, everything that's happened at these conventions, and all the votes that Americans will cast in September, October, and November, may ultimately come to nought.  That's because the election may well be decided by the Supreme Court, by gamesmanship, by skullduggery, by will (or the lack thereof), by public protests, or even by force.  None of us prefers a messy victory to a clean one, naturally.  But we may have little choice.  Circumstances this year are just not conducive to a "normal" political process.

8 comments:

  1. DR. NICK

    I'm fed up with the whole lot of them. So, I'm going to write your name in for President.

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  2. Ray, a superb choice! I'll be honored to serve...even if it's only as President of the Republic of Free Kansas? We'll take what we can get. :)

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  3. DR. NICK

    On the contrary. You will be President of the entire United States of America. With that said, you need to tell us what your platform is going to be on a number of issues. You know, border security, health care, foreign policy and so on. I'm looking forward to seeing it because I know you have it and can show us what it is.

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  4. DR. NICK

    Your titles are going to be: PRESIDENT FOR LIFE. CHAIRMAN OF THE PEOPLE'S REDEMPTION COUNCIL. (Your title as religious leader of the country), and SUPREME FIELD MARSHAL (your title as head of the Armed Forces). You need to come up with a title in your position as head of the only political party allowed.

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  5. Dr. Waddy from Jack: So . . . "the game is on!" I think our gutsy President is up to it. No Paul Ryan he! I would hope to see him concentrate on the theme that the choice is simple: America vs insurrection. Belief that our country is very, very much worth preserving in its present form because we have proven democratic means for enacting well tested and reasoned change, is what informs the Republican ticket whereas the dems are exemplified by ongoing ( both in their incalculably vicious assault over the last four years on our President,who was chosen by a creditable Constitutional process which the dems would readily embrace were it to eventuate in their domnance and in the openly encouraged violence they endorse as they wink at the spreading mayhem.)
    Their spreading totalitariann intent cannot be disguised and in doing so they make this election yet another of the recent kind which is , yes ,potentially decisive. Sooner or later one side or the other is going to win this second Civil War. Is this Gettysburg, or Antietam and Perryville or Cedar Creek or Five Forks? Those of our persuasion must take our guidance from Lincoln, who regarded them all as vital in the first struggle "for the American soul" Mr. (by definition) VICE President Biden.

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  6. Ray, I'm touched! Endowing me with absolute power is, I must say, a very sound decision, and it's about time... Just off the top of my head, since it would be charming to model my one-party system on a college classroom, perhaps my moniker as party leader could be: Supreme Sage? Celestial Scholar? Paramount Pedant? Really, it's hard to choose just one...

    You may well be right, Jack, that the law and order theme is a winning one in 2020. People are scared of crime, as they should be. They're scared of riots and thuggery masquerading as activism. It shouldn't be hard to convince the American people that the Left has become intolerant, angry, and extreme. Anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear should perceive that. It's a negative message, mind you -- vote Trump because the alternative is Armageddon -- but who likes Armageddon? And, let's face it, Trump is not well-liked by many middle of the road voters. If they're going to vote red, it won't be because they approve fully of Trump's style or his policies. It'll be because they see the alternative as clearly worse.

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  7. Dr. Waddy et Al from Jack: Today's felony indictment of the St.Louis couple which had the insolent fortitude to make armed defense of their persons and property from anarchic thugs graphically illustrates the other outrage which confronts law abiding Americans: the very real fear that the government will turn on them for the slightest show of resistance to the mobs. Is that DA in St. Louis a dem? I'll bet!

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  8. Quite right, Jack: selective prosecution, which has been a problem for years, will become a way of life if the Dems sweep the board in 2020. And will the media serve as a check on their reign of terror/error? Not a bit of it. They'll cheer on the persecution of dissidents, while ignoring the free rein given to criminals and anarchists. The elite lefties will simply move out of the cities, which will be allowed to become BLM/Antifa free-fire zones.

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