The Donald Trump juggernaut has finally rolled into Cleveland for the four-day Republican National Convention that gears up to formally anoint the billionaire real-estate mogul as the party nominee for the 2016 presidential race, even as anti-Trump protesters of diverse persuasions are intent on making their presence felt.
Beginning as it does against the backdrop of racial tensions capped by Sunday’s killing of three police officers in Baton Rouge and the violence spearheaded by ISIS overseas, the convention that kicks off on Monday evening is devoting its opening day to focus on “Making America Safe Again”.
While Cleveland braces for an assortment of anti-Trump protests, unreconciled naysayers within the party who waged the “NeverTrump” campaign for months are still plotting to disrupt, if not derail, proceedings. This, despite the setback they have suffered with the convention’s Rules Committee rejecting their demand to free delegates to vote for whomsoever as they pleased during the nomination process.
Although many party bigwigs have fallen in line over the past couple of months as Trump systematically knocked out his 16 fellow-contenders, several top guns will still be staying out of the Cleveland jamboree. They include former Presidents George HW Bush and son George W Bush, as also the other son, Jeb, who was by far the most prominent of Trump’s victims in the primaries.
A host of Senators including party veteran John McCain, lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Jeff Flake, lisa Murkowski and Ben Sasse will all be skipping the convention for one reason or another. For some of the Senators, facing re-election in swing States, it is reckoned to be a dicey proposition to be seen rubbing shoulders with Trump.
Trump, projecting himself and his vice-presidential pick Mike Pence as “law and Order Candidates” who will make America safe again, quickly grabbed Sunday’s shooting in Baton Rouge to train his guns on the leadership of President Barack Obama and his own Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
“Our country is totally divided and our enemies are watching. We are not looking good, we are not looking smart, we are not looking tough!” Trump tweeted after a black gunman killed three police officers and injured three others. “President Obama just had a news conference, but he doesn’t have a clue. Our country is a divided crime scene, and it will only get worse!”
Obama, speaking on the Baton Rouge episode, said America “as a nation has to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against law enforcement”, adding: “Attacks on police are an attack on all of us”. And, in an oblique response to Trump, said: “We don’t need inflammatory rhetoric. We don’t need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or to advance an agenda.”
Trump’s wife, Melania, will be among the star speakers of Day One, along with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and lt. Gen. (Retd.) Michael Flynn, who headed the Defence Intelligence Agency. Trump’s sons and daughters are also slated to speak on different days of the convention.
As Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manfort put it, the line of speakers has been so chosen as to enable Americans to get to know “Trump, the man” and not just as a candidate. The convention will focus on the whole personality of the 70-year-old self-made billionaire, it is said.
“A Donald Trump administration will listen to and learn from our nation’s heroes who have put themselves in harm’s way and pursue a national security strategy and foreign policy that will strengthen our military and make America safe again,” a convention statement said.
While Trump is also slated to speak on the opening day, his main acceptance speech will be on Thursday night on the theme of “Making America One Again”. The intervening two days will deal with “Making America Work Again” and “Making America First Again” – all said to be aspects of Trump’s overall campaign slogan: “Make America Great Again”.