The task before Republican National Convention organizers, the Trump campaign, and the GOP heading into this week was enormous. The country is still beset by a pandemic of a contagious virus that has killed more than 180,000 Americans, unemployment is still above 10 percent, the death of George Floyd set off long-simmering tensions about police treatment of minorities, and now angry mobs have brought violence to just about every major American city. The president is trailing in both national polls and just about all of the swing-state polling. The opposition party is brushing its internal differences under the rug and focusing on their overwhelming hunger to undo the shocking defeat of 2016.
And for three and a half nights as of this writing, the Republican Party has gone out and done a really solid job at making the strongest argument for the president’s reelection: Look at the policies this administration enacted, and remember the times they worked well for you. The message is: Forget the president’s Twitter feed. Forget his angry tirades. Forget the nutty things he can say when he’s free-associating in front of the television cameras. Recall the three years of solid economic growth, including rising wages for those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, until the shutdowns forced by the pandemic. Think of the First Step Act, the most significant criminal-justice reform initiative in years. Think of the consistent increases in the defense budget, the defeat of ISIS, the slaying of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the major setback to Iranian-backed terrorism with the slaying of Qasem Soleimani. Think of all the patients facing dreaded diseases who have new hope with the Right to Try Act. Think of the tax cuts that put a little more money back in your pocket. Think of the pro-life stands and the barrier to taxpayer funding of abortion. Think of the stalwart efforts to expand school choice and access to charter schools. Think of the United States, once so heavily dependent upon foreign oil, becoming a net exporter of energy. Think of the 260 miles of border fencing that has been replaced and upgraded, and the (ahem) 5 miles of new fencing constructed.
You may not love everything this president says or does. But you probably like what he’s done more than you like him personally.
Democrats like to believe they stand up for the little guy. The Republican convention turned the stage over to the littlest of little guys: Ann Dorn, the widow of a police officer killed by a looter; Sam Vigil, a widower whose wife was killed by an illegal immigrant; Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng; Sister Dr. Deirdre Byrne and Abby Johnson speaking for the unborn; Tera Myers, the Ohio mom whose child with special needs who received a scholarship to enable her school choice; Tanya Weinreis, the Montana coffee-shop owner whose business was able to stay open because of the Payment Protection Program. These are all Americans who are “the little guy,” but their needs and problems don’t fit the preferred narrative, so you won’t hear nearly as much about them.
The Link LonkAugust 28, 2020 at 09:07AM
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/republicans-forget-all-the-drama-and-remember-whats-gotten-done/
Republicans: Forget All the Drama and Remember What’s Gotten Done - National Review
https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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