“Politics makes me sick.”
- William Howard Taft
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM?: Day three of the Republican convention concluded with a positive shift with a speech by veep nominee Mike Pence who focused on introducing himself to an unfamiliar nation, while building on party unity and important policy ideals. Pence’s role will be simple in the coming months, he’ll provide a balance between Donald Trump and the Republicans, adding much-needed substance and value to both the party and the ticket. But it wouldn’t be a day at a 2016 Republican convention without some drama or controversy. In what we think will be remembered as political miscalculation, Senator Ted Cruz called on Republicans to “vote your conscience” without endorsing Trump and was booed off stage (of course, with Trump seizing the opportunity to step on Cruz’s message by entering the convention hall at just the right time) providing Trump with the singlemost unifying moment of the convention so far.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Most of America knows Trump for his real estate deals and from his reality tv show, but they don’t know him personally and he may actually be a good guy. As his most trusted advisers and surrogates, his family has moved to humanize him, bring him down to earth, and show his sensibility. Trump’s family has provided audiences nationwide with a different view of the man running for president – with the hope that he’s someone they can relate to on a personal level. Melania’s speech missed it for obvious reasons, but Donald Jr., Tiffany, and Eric have been the messengers he’s needed all along - and Ivanka, the most anticipated of the five, will have her turn tonight.
SCORN OVER SUBSTANCE: Given Republican discord on a number of policy positions, the convention has lacked substance and style in favor of endless attacks on Hillary Clinton. Let’s face it, Republicans are more comfortable uniting against her and she’s been in their crosshairs and in the spotlight for three full days – even overshadowing support for Trump. What could’ve been a strong speech by NJ Governor Chris Christie played more like an episode of Judge Judy. We expected Clinton to be a target, but not the main focus. We think Republicans are missing the opportunity to tell the nation what they stand for - Pence got the ball rolling last night and Trump may be the only one who can pull that off tonight.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Tonight will be give Trump the opportunity to turn the page on a Republican convention that has been part coronation, part Keystone Cops, part soap opera. We’re beating a dead horse into the ground, but his campaign continues to be late to the game on everything - missing opportunity after opportunity to shore up the base before the convention even started as he’s been the presumptive nominee since winning Indiana on May 3. Now, instead of focusing their attention on critical undecideds and independents at the convention given a captive national audience, Trump and Republicans keep finding themselves struggling to unify, stay on message (see Trump’s comments on NATO yesterday) and offer up a positive vision for the country.
CALL INVITE | BREXIT IMPLICATIONS – A 360° ANALYSIS: Please join us tomorrow, July 22nd at 11:00 AM EST as we begin a series of calls on post-Brexit implications. Our first call, in conjunction with the international law firm of Squire Patton Boggs, will examine Brexit’s legal and procedural implications. You can find call details here.
