Wrapping Up: Was The 2016 Republican National Convention Successful?

From the beginning to the end, the 2016 Republican National Convention had everyone on the edge of their seats.  What would Trump say and would the convention help him in the polls?  Will I be safe walking around downtown Cleveland? Will Cleveland benefit from hosting this convention?  

I think many people expected the 2016 RNC and Donald Trump to go off-script and incite violence, but that proved, for the most part, to not be the case.  The convention was mostly successful for both Trump and the city itself.

Photo by Erik Drost (Creative Commons license)

After the 2016 RNC ended, political scientists and data journalists were trying to determine how much of a bump Trump would receive in the polls.  Hosting a political convention throws that party into the national spotlight for a week, thus attracting attention and hopefully more voters.  Time reported that "Trump leads Clinton 48% to 45% on the heels of the convention, according to the CNN/ORC poll, which was released Monday. The finding shows a 6-point convention bounce for Trump."  In the same article, Time writes that "the same poll found that the convention...has strengthened the view of the Republican party."  Read that article here.  Everyone following politics knew that Trump was going to receive a bump, but by just how much was unknown until after the convention ended.  What does surprise me is the positive impact the 2016 RNC had on the GOP as whole, considering that I thought there were definitely a few unforced errors and signs of disunity.  What will be interesting to see next will be how much of a bump Hillary Clinton receives at the end of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia tomorrow night. 

Due to the often divisive comments Trump has made, I understand why many people were worried that the RNC would bring rioting to the streets of Cleveland.  However, the law enforcement in the city did a great job of letting protesters have their space and keeping the peace.  According to CNBC, "24 people were arrested in connection with the convention...with 18 arrests made during a flag-burning incident that led to the assaulting of two law enforcement officers and charges for failure to disperse or resisting arrest." Read that article here.  Personally, when I was walking around downtown on both East 9th and Prospect last Thursday afternoon, I expected tons of people on the street. However, what I found seemed no different than what I experience on my weekends walking around downtown Chicago.  Even leaving at 11:30 pm last Thursday from the Quicken Loans Arena, walking down East 4th towards Euclid, it felt more like a party, then a riot.

Building on the success of the parade and rally celebrating the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA championship win, Cleveland proved it was ready to host the 2016 RNC.  The city was able to highlight the newly renovated Public Square in the heart of downtown, new hotels had been built, and the area around the Quicken Loans Arena turned into a pedestrian friendly city.  During my time volunteering as a Cleveland Ambassador for the 2016 Cleveland Host Committee, I heard firsthand from both the Alaska and Wyoming delegates why they were growing to love their time in Cleveland.  In particular, one delegate I met actually grew up on the West side of Cleveland and was amazed at how much the city has grown and improved.  Cleveland is certainly not a city to be underestimated.  I am so impressed with how well the people of Cleveland represented their city and I am proud to call Cleveland my second home.

Photo by Tim (Creative Commons license)

To my readers, I hope that by reading this blog you learned something, were intrigued by my perspective on the 2016 RNC, and were inspired to pay closer attention to politics.  I cannot believe how fast the past three weeks have gone by and I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog.  I implore all of you to continue following the rest of the 2016 DNC in Philadelphia and the presidential campaign between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Your voice and vote matters!