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| 2020gopconvention.com |
Hello Everyone:
The Blogger Candidate Forum is back on national convention duty this week. Beginning today, through Thursday, we are in Charlotte, North Carolina for the Republican National Convention. In reality, the RNC Convention is more like a four-day Trump infomercial. There will no floor fight over who will be the nominee--conventional wisdom is do not challenge an incumbent for re-election--and adoption of a platform--platform? What platform. The Convention format will be an in-person/virtual hybrid. Vice President Mike Pence, First Lady Melania Trump, and Mr. Donald Trump will deliver their remarks from remote locations. The format is a compromise between an image conscious president who really wants confetti canons, cheering red hatted crowds, balloon drops and COVID-19-related safety measures. Before we get started on the convention's start, time for regular voting reminder.
Are you a registered voter? If you are, good for you and if you mail-in your ballot make absolutely sure you get it by midnight, October 15, 2020 to give the Post Office enough time to process and deliver your ballot. If you can safely vote in-person, pack provisions (food, beverage, your phone charger), get in line, and stay in line. If you are not a registered vote, stop reading, go to usa.gov, then come back to the post. Whatever you do, make a plan. Text VOTE to 30330. Thank you.
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| theguardian.com |
In a concession to the virus, VPOTUS Pence, FLOTUS Trump, and Mr. Trump will deliver their remarks from government-owned property: the White House and Fort McHenry Baltimore, Maryland. The choice of locations raised the ire of some Democrats and government watchdogs, who say that the White House and the place where the National Anthem was written run afoul of the Hatch Act, "an ethics law that prohibits most federal employees from engaging in political activity while on duty or in a government building" (npr.org; Aug. 24, 2020). Democrats on the House Oversight Committee asked the non-partisan Office of Special Counsel to review the RNC plans. The counsel's office responded with advisory opinion,
The Hatch Act does not prohibit President Trump from delivering his RNC acceptance speech on White House grounds... However, White House employees are covered by the Hatch Act, so there may be Hatch Act implications for those employees, depending on their level of involvement with the event and their position in the White House (npr.org; Aug. 24, 2020)
Thus, the president, and vice president are not subject to the Hatch Act, allowing VPOTUS Pence to deliver his speech from Fort McHenry.
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| RNC nomination roll call wbur.org |
Mr. Donald Trump officially became the Republican nominee for President of the United States, not that he had any actual competition. Former Massachusetts Republican Governor William Weld did declare his candidacy for the nomination but never attracted any attention. Regardless, 360 delegates, from around the country, gathered in Charlotte to cast their in-person vote for the nominee. Toward the end of the vote, ever the showman, the president made an appearance to speak to the delegates from the venue. His surprise appearance came right after the Florida delegates cast their votes--a symbolic gesture to his primary residence--and a must-win state this year.
The president made a particular point of showing up in Charlotte, unlike his Democratic rival who avoided the convention in Milwaukee. He told the crowd,
I felt an obligation to come to North Carolina, a place that's been very good to me (npr.org; Aug. 24, 2020).
His remarks to the delegates had all the usual hallmarks of a rambling Trump campaign rally speech, the president defending his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and condemned VPOTUS Joe Biden's comments, over the weekend, during an interview with ABC News, in which he said "that he would shut the country down again if scientists recommended it" (npr.org; Aug. 24, 2020). Mr. Trump went on to complain about the media coverage of the roll call vote, took a shot at Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), blamed the state governors for the turtle slow response to the pandemic, and continued to make false claims about voting by mail. Incumbent Vice President Mike Pence also greeted the delegates in person.
Ocean-style deep fried calamari, the official appetizer of the state of Rhode Island won bipartisan support. Coffee milk and doughboys (clams dipped in chowder), two more Rhode Island treats, got shout outs.
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| What platform? nymag.com |
Finally, platform? What platform? In a highly unusual move, the Republican National Committee resolved not to adopt a platform, outlining what it hopes to accomplish in a possible second Trump administration. The official reason is the pandemic made impossible for the party to gather and formally write a platform,
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has significantly scaled back the size and scope of the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte due to strict restrictions on gatherings and meetings, and out of of concerns for the safety of convention attendees and our hosts (nymag.com; Aug. 23, 2020; date accessed Aug. 24, 2020)
Strange, the pandemic did not stop the Democrat National Committee from gathering on Zoom to craft a platform.
Essentially instead of an actual platform that defined its beliefs and priorities, the RNC simply states, "that it agrees with everything Trump has done and will do" (nymag.com; Aug. 23, 2020)
The unofficial excuse? The RNC has tightly embraced an immensely unpopular president, despite quiet doubts about his basic fitness for office. The result is the president feels the need to force his party to make such public declarations of fealty, to place their reputations in his hands. What the president does not seem to understand is that his control over the RNC is not total and loyalty runs both ways. No sooner did he take the Oath of Office, he began to disregard some of his popular campaign promises: raise taxes on the wealthy, crack down on Wall Street, and expand healthcare coverage to fit within the Republican agenda (Ibid). If the president tried to pass any sort of tax increase on the wealthy, his party would abandon him. However, his repeated abuses of power and open contempt for even the basic rudiments of the job have become matters for RNC first to ignore, then celebrate. Thus, the RNC has contorted itself in such a way that the we-support-whatever-Trump-says-and- does resolution perfectly sums up the 2020 Republican National Committee.
What can we look forward to on night one? All Trump, all the time. The president's eldest son is set to deliver the keynote address. Other headliners include former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley and Senator Tim Scott, the lone African American Republican. Also scheduled to are Representatives Matt Gaetz and assorted conservative media figures. Each of the speakers, over the next four nights, will attempt to portray VPOTUS Joe Biden as tool of the radical left wing. The Candidate Forum will back tomorrow with a wrap up of tonight's events and a look ahead.
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