The Cleveland Convention: Harking Back to the Old Days.

I am too young to remember the days when National Party Conventions became a battleground. Rival factions would fight for their candidate, staging rowdy demonstrations on the floor whilst wheeling and dealing in the back rooms. It was not unusual to have more than 100 ballots before an announcement was made about “the next president of the United States.”

These days, Conventions are stage-managed affairs, choreographed to the nth degree, planned so that prime-time television will catch the important, tear-jerking moments as supporters of the presumptive candidate sing his or her praises. Gone are the days, such as 1948, when the Democratic Convention was delayed so much that the announcement of Truman’s candidacy came too late to be covered by national television.

And then came Cleveland, Ohio, the city chosen for this year’s Republican National Convention. According to The Sunday Times and The Huff Post, Donald Trump took upon himself and his people the task of organising the Convention there. If so, and if he wins the November election, America may well be in the hands of someone whose attention to detail needs much improvement.

Not all the clusterfucks can land at The Donald’s door. The speech given by his wife plagiarised Michelle Obama’s address eight years ago. However, instead of putting the collective hands up to being found out, Trump’s team claimed innocence for two days before an adviser claimed responsibility and apologised. Now, I don’t care what Mrs Trump does. She is not standing for election. However, the story was the lead on two news cycles. The way the problem was so poorly handled gives cause for concern if Trump is in the Oval Office when things go wrong.

More from a London heat wave in the small hours than the desire to watch television, I saw chunks of the Convention’s proceedings on Tuesday and Wednesday night. I am still waiting to hear the first policy proposal. Instead, Trump children have praised “Dad” to the heights, just for doing what most fathers do for their children. Other offerings are on the lines that Donald is to be trusted. He has no governing track record on which he can be judged.

Governor Christie decided to become prosecutor and judge on Hillary Clinton, listing factually incorrect indictments and encouraging those present in the auditorium to chant, “lock her up.” For “Bridgegate” Christie, this was king size hypocrisy. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich accused both Clinton and Obama for failing to take action against Islamic terrorists, detailing all global outrages since 9/11. Did he mention that for seven years, a Republican was in the White House? Did he relate the efforts by Congress to derail initiatives on curbing domestic terrorism through gun control? Did he praise the removal of Obama Bin Laden? Mr Gingrich doesn’t feel the need for a balanced argument.

Last night, Ted Cruz, the last of Trump’s sixteen opponents to bite the dust, spoke to the Convention. The audience did not like what he said because he didn’t endorse The Donald. He got shouted down. Good to know that the Republicans are the Party of the Second Amendment but not the First!

It is worthy of comment that neither Mitt Romney nor John McCain, the man Trump accused of failure for being captured by the North Vietnamese, has attended the Convention. Nor have the last two Republican presidents. Why did they not come?

I know there is fear amongst a number of my American friends and relatives that Trump will be a Brexit revisited. But was Brexit just an emotional vote against elites who govern remotely from voters and a desire to curb immigration? It could not have been the former as the vote was too close. As to the latter, this is a key Trump sound-bite but could he succeed on this issue alone?

Next week, the Democrats have their say. I hope we will hear policy initiatives as well as Trump-bashing. I suspect we will hear a lot about Trump University, bankruptcies, Muslim-phobia, sexual assault allegations, Trump’s belief about shooting people on 5^th Avenue and the like. However, while Trump-bashing might appeal to the Democratic faithful, it isn’t anywhere near enough for Mrs Clinton to win the election. She needs to be positive, emphasising what is good about America and how she will build on it.

Whatever the result of the presidential election, for me the important contest is Congress. Hillary needs to keep an eye on winning the Senate, a possibility, as well as the House, an outside chance, and to gear her campaign to these goals. There is little point in her winning the White House if she gets stymied by Congress. But there is always the goal of Keeping Trump out, even if Congress stays Republican.