The GOP / RNC

[3rdside]

This is fucking nuts

[Flagrant Fowl]

That bitch is crazy.

I wonder how much of her plastic surgery was performed in California.

[Indy]

That bitch is crazy.

I wonder how much of her plastic surgery was performed in California.

Well, she used to be married to Gavin Newsome, so probably most of it.

[Indy]

I only watched a few clips (like I did with the DNC) and oh my god.

[Mori Chu]

I watched clips of the RNC's first night. The general theme I thought was, "be scared, be angry." Lot of apocalyptic statements saying that radical socialist commie Dems are going to destroy America. It's odd to paint Biden that way since he was arguably the most moderate centrist of the Dem primary candidates. But oh well.

There was also a notable lack of mention of COVID. I think the GOP would really like you to look at Trump's record up until about February 2020 and not further. They know COVID is a huge blow to the argument that Trump made America "great." I think they want the voters to write off COVID as an act of nature/God that Trump isn't responsible for, and judge him on certain metrics from his first 3 years in office instead.

It's funny how narrow their selection of speakers is. No high-profile senators, no former Presidents; folks from the cabinet (e.g. Pompeo) who are not supposed to be making partisan speeches; random citizens who achieved temporary internet fame for fighting in the culture war (Covenant Catholic kid Sandmann, couple who pointed guns at protestors); and of course a heavy dollop of Trump family members. And POTUS himself speaking every single night. It's basically the Trump show. The party is Trump. L'etat, c'est moi.

The GOP has become a party of white grievance. Their decision not to even have an official party platform this year, other than "we support President Trump," is really telling. Their entire platform is about being angry at the libs and bowing down to Dear Leader. What a mess.

These guys have got to go. Every single one of them must be voted out.

[Cap]

I think they want the voters to write off COVID as an act of nature/God that Trump isn't responsible for, and judge him on certain metrics from his first 3 years in office instead.

Or China.

[Indy]

I think they want the voters to write off COVID as an act of nature/God that Trump isn't responsible for, and judge him on certain metrics from his first 3 years in office instead.

Or China.

This. Saying it is nature or an act of God so you can't plan for it won't work well, because it has been highly publicized that the last admin left a playbook on this specifically, and anyone can go find Biden's tweets from last October saying a global pandemic is something we need to be ready for. They have to frame it as "the 'others' did something bad to us" and we need to blame them, not me/us. Sounds a lot like Germany in the 30s.

[Nodack]

I didn't watch one second of it.

[3rdside]

Sorry, Democrats. Trump’s convention is working.

David Von Drehle
Washington Post

Spoiler: show/hide

For my friends who lean left, there was good news and bad news from the opening night of the Republican National, um, Convention — for want of a better term. I have a feeling that political conventions will be changed forever by these two weeks in 2020, but perhaps we’ll go on calling them by the old name, much as we call our pocket supercomputer-camera-video screens “phones.”

The good news for lefties was that their long-range nightmare of a Trump political dynasty took a huge hit as Donald Trump Jr. and his romantic partner Kimberly Guilfoyle delivered two of the worst speeches ever. But the near-term Democratic nightmare — four more years of Trump Sr. — feels more likely after a program that was otherwise sharp and strong.

I don’t expect everyone to like this assessment. Political conventions aren’t intended for “everyone.” That’s certainly true of a convention stage-managed by President Trump. His métier is conflict. The more it leaves Democrats spluttering with outrage, the happier Team Trump will be.

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Kimberly Guilfoyle spoke on socialism, Joe Biden and her home state of California on the opening night of the Republican National Convention on Aug. 24. (The Washington Post)
The opening night was not just provocative. It was audacious at a time when half-measures would doom the struggling president. The GOP went straight to work on Trump’s gaping wounds.

First was the pandemic and the economic damage done. To have any chance in November, Trump must find a way around this terrible news. In multiple forms on Monday — from regular-person testimonials to cunningly edited videos — a story was spun, not entirely true (conventions never are). But it hung together and went like this: The virus didn’t simply emerge from China. It was a deliberate attack by the Chinese Communist Party against the one man on Earth willing and able to stand up to it: Trump. And Trump moved quickly to fight back with new therapies, innovative telemedicine and billions of dollars for a vaccine.

Like Obi-Wan Kenobi playing the Jedi mind trick, the convention thus stepped in front of the rising covid-19 death toll and Trump’s six-month blooper reel of dismissive comments about the virus. “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for,” Republicans told us. Likely, any Americans willing to be so diverted will also be buyers of Trump’s economic argument. To wit: The Chinese coronavirus attack kneecapped what had been a great economy, the architect of which should be rehired to build it back.

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Will this work? It is a key question for the fall campaign. Trump is hugely vulnerable on covid-19 and double-digit unemployment. On the other hand, in my conversations with potential Trump voters, his self-crafted profile as a China-fighter is one of his greatest strengths.

Race was the second problem addressed on opening night. Trump’s long record of race-baiting earned him former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke’s endorsement in 2016, and he recently reached the dismal low of warning “suburban” (read: white) women that New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (read: large Black man) is menacing their neighborhoods. Three African Americans speaking on Trump’s behalf on Monday won’t erase that record in the minds of Black voters.

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But there was another audience in play: white voters who don’t want to believe they are voting for a racist. Even less do they want to believe they themselves are racist. Again, from my conversations with voters, I find a lot of folks who are torn between disgust at continued examples of excessive police violence, and pushback against the idea that American racism goes bone-deep. Strong messages from people of color absolving Trump — and the nation — were aimed directly at those white voters, to help them feel better about voting again for Trump.

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The line of the night for them likely came from former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants. “In much of the Democratic Party, it’s now fashionable to say that America is racist. That is a lie,” she said. “America is not a racist country.” And the speaker of the night was surely Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the GOP’s only Black senator and, we saw, a force to be reckoned with.

Issue three was Trump’s style. For swing voters, life in Trump’s America resembles the guy hitting his own head with a hammer. Asked why, he replies: “Because it feels great when I stop.” An important part of Joe Biden’s appeal is that he promises to stop hitting us with a hammer.

In this rough world, the Republicans replied, America needs a man who swings a heavy hammer. “Everyone knows he can be tough,” said Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel of the president. “Tough when he takes on China. Tough when he works to fix our unfair trade deals. Tough when he fights to secure our borders.”

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I’m writing this with three more nights to go. Things could get worse for the GOP, but not much better. They proved on opening night that they know where their foundering vessel is leaking, and they manned the pumps rather than abandoning ship.

[3rdside]

It definitely picked up after Guilfoyle .. sure it was full of sh*t but it will still resonate.

[Indy]

I think it will be effective for people that already support him (or need an excuse to).

[JJ Slim]

So did any of you actually watch it or did you just listen to a few clips with someone else's "interpretation"? I will agree that Kimberly Guilfoyle's speech was extreme. I had to shut it off at that point. She might have been saying something worthwhile but her delivery obscured her message. But did any of you listen to Herschel Walker? Or Georgia Democratic state Rep. Vernon Jones? Or Nikki Haley? Or Senator Tim Scott? I bet you've never heard of Maximo Alvarez. If you watch nothing else, you should watch this:



My take is that they are trying to convey the message that half the country already knows and that the other half has never heard or that has had it filtered to them in the "correct" way. These include his accomplishments, his supposed racism, his response to Covid-19, and the "official" demographic of his base and also a celebration of us. I won't go into details about each of those because I don't have the time but I will tell you that half the country is uninformed, being lied to and manipulated and making decisions without all the information. That is not meant as an attack or disparagement and I apologize if anyone takes it that way. I'm not asking you to change your mind but simply to listen to and try to understand another point of view without attacking and disparaging.

I just listened to Nick Sandman's and TIffany Trump's speeches. I was actually dreading hearing from her but was pleasantly surprised. If you have a few minutes listen to both of them with an open mind.

[Nodack]

I will tell you that half the country is uninformed, being lied to and manipulated and making decisions without all the information.

I think the other half would say the exact same thing to you.

[Superbone]

[jonh]

I will tell you that half the country is uninformed, being lied to and manipulated and making decisions without all the information.

I think the other half would say the exact same thing to you.

I think thats why its important to be able to hear each other's viewpoint. What exactly do republicans feel independents and democrats are missing? What do democrats feel republicans are missing?

I honestly feel that if voters were able to talk across the aisle civilly, there would be a realization about how much common ground there is, and how media and the political machinery on both sides is quickly radicalizing perspectives.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/wh ... cans-left/

[Indy]

I will tell you that half the country is uninformed, being lied to and manipulated and making decisions without all the information.

I think the other half would say the exact same thing to you.

I think thats why its important to be able to hear each other's viewpoint. What exactly do republicans feel independents and democrats are missing? What do democrats feel republicans are missing?

I honestly feel that if voters were able to talk across the aisle civilly, there would be a realization about how much common ground there is, and how media and the political machinery on both sides is quickly radicalizing perspectives.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/wh ... cans-left/

I think the biggest problem is money in politics. That leads to polarization of news sources, too. And as a result, you are finding less and less of the news sources to be independent from huge corporate money that is supporting one party or another. And the same is true of the electorate. What percent of voters only get their news from extremely partisan news sources? I would bet it is at the highest point in the history of this country.

I can't even have a true conversation with my brother on this topic. He starts saying Joe Biden wants to defund the police. And signed up for the Green New Deal. and on and on and on. And even if I wanted those things, Joe Biden has specifically spoken about not defunding, and hasn't signed the Green New Deal. But my brother knows he did. Oh, he also knows that Biden supports abortion in any case up to the day of delivery. Ugh.

[Nodack]

I read probably at least 20 news stories a day from dozens of sources. Trump tells me that no matter what news site I read from they are all lying. Trump even bashes FOX News half the time. If I am missing some crucial info I would like them to tell where I am missing it from. Where are all these right wingers getting their facts from if they cannot get it from any news source on planet earth?

As far as I can tell Lou Dobbs is President of the US. That’s where Trump gets 75% of his policies.

[jonh]

I read probably at least 20 news stories a day from dozens of sources. Trump tells me that no matter what news site I read from they are all lying. Trump even bashes FOX News half the time. If I am missing some crucial info I would like them to tell where I am missing it from. Where are all these right wingers getting their facts from if they cannot get it from any news source on planet earth?

As far as I can tell Lou Dobbs is President of the US. That’s where Trump gets 75% of his policies.

I actually asked several family members who are both Donald Trump supporters and anti-vaxxers this exact question. I was sent links to instragram accounts, rather than news sources. I am not saying that most conservatives do, or that there are not good, conservative-focused outlets--but these members have an incredible distrust for almost any news source.

For the record, I like going onto realclearpolitics, which I feel provides links to articles that are both obviously conservative and liberal-leaning.

[Indy]

I read probably at least 20 news stories a day from dozens of sources. Trump tells me that no matter what news site I read from they are all lying. Trump even bashes FOX News half the time. If I am missing some crucial info I would like them to tell where I am missing it from. Where are all these right wingers getting their facts from if they cannot get it from any news source on planet earth?

As far as I can tell Lou Dobbs is President of the US. That’s where Trump gets 75% of his policies.

I actually asked several family members who are both Donald Trump supporters and anti-vaxxers this exact question. I was sent links to instragram accounts, rather than news sources. I am not saying that most conservatives do, or that there are not good, conservative-focused outlets--but these members have an incredible distrust for almost any news source.

For the record, I like going onto realclearpolitics, which I feel provides links to articles that are both obviously conservative and liberal-leaning.

that is a good place to go. I try and read sources from all kinds of things (I stay away from clearly racist sources like Breitbart), and really try and focus on reporting, not opinion pieces.

[Mori Chu]

The best I can tell today is that the GOP is settling on defending the 17-year-old murderer who blew protestors away in Kenosha the other day. They're saying it was self-defense and that somebody had to maintain law and order when the city/police wouldn't. Oof.