Like them or not, Republicans demonstrated in Milwaukee that they are united as a party. The convention’s messages were clear and concise. The support for former President Donald Trump was unequivocal. Every part of the event was on point and on brand.
Whether that unity will extend beyond the party, whether it will attract the voters who are concerned about Trump’s rhetoric and behavior but equally concerned about President Joe Biden’s apparent infirmities and government-expanding policies, remains to be seen.
But with Democrats scrambling to unite while arguing over whether to keep Biden as a candidate, one thing is certain. Americans are entering a different, uncertain and energizing campaign season. Things can be altered quickly.
The GOP appears to have changed in many ways over the past decade. Gone are free-trade policies and traditional military concerns that once fueled unquestioned support for NATO. Gone are many of the divisions within the party. It is now Trump’s Republican Party.
Democrats, on the other hand, have a few precious days until their convention to decide whether change can save their chances this year. Much hinges on whether Biden can be persuaded to withdraw from the race, which polls show him losing. But the party also must decide whether to double down on big-government policies some people blame for inflation, support for Israel in its current struggle and the seeming nonchalance about a growing national debt (for which Republicans seem bereft of ideas, as well).
Politics is about ideas, but it also is, at its core, about trying to deliver what the public wants, and that can be elusive as tastes, mores and values change.
Trump’s success, although not overwhelming, has hinged on his ability to appeal to many, mostly rural Americans who feel powerless in the face of many cultural currents. He touched on many of the themes that resonate with that constituency again during his acceptance speech Thursday night.
It was an unusual speech, in many ways, because it came only days after Trump was wounded in the ear during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The former president struck a somber tone as he reflected on that near tragedy, and as he honored Corey Comperatore, the supporter who was killed at that event while shielding his family from bullets.
“I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God,” he said, before asking for a moment of silence. He also urged Americans to unite.
“The discord and division in our society must be healed,” he said. “We must heal it quickly.”
However, the bulk of his speech — a convention record of 92 minutes — was a recitation of familiar grievances and claims of successes achieved during his term as president. He persisted in unproven charges that election cheating caused his loss in 2020, and he referred to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “crazy.”
It may be too much to expect an end to all rancorous rhetoric during this, or any other presidential campaign. As the Sutherland Institute in Utah reminded us in a recent essay on the rise of political parties, campaign insults were legendary in the early years of the United States.
That does not mean they were good for the nation.
Thomas Jefferson addressed these in his inaugural address in 1801: “Let us then, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind, let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty, and even life itself, are but dreary things. … We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all republicans: we are all federalists.”
It’s easy to argue that such unity has never been completely achieved. However, in this particularly vicious time of political rhetoric, a genuine attempt to reach across the political aisle with affection would certainly be popular with many members of a wary voting public. A continuation of the usual demagoguery from both sides, meanwhile, could be dangerous to peace and safety.
Gov. Spencer Cox, no fan of Donald Trump, announced Friday he will “do everything I can to help” Trump win the election and unify the country. He sent a letter — an olive branch — expressing his concern for the former president following the assassination attempt, and urging him to unify the country, efforts that will earn him the support of Utah’s governor.
“My commitment to him was that I would help him try to lower the temperature in this country, and I sincerely hope — from what I’ve heard from people around him — that he’s committed to that,” Cox said.
The coming weeks will demonstrate whether either party takes the need for kinder and gentler words to heart. They will also reveal whether a united Republican Party can triumph over the creative chaos that seems to have a hold on Democrats at the moment.