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!

Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders Turn Day One Of The DNC Into A Success

After the DNC email scandal that resulted in the resignation of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic Party needed for day one of the convention to be a success.  The one challenge that stood in their way at the start of the 2016 DNC was the amount of passionate and stout Bernie Sanders supporters, not yet ready to throw their support to Hillary Clinton. Although Sanders lost in the primaries to Clinton and has chosen to endorse her, many of his supporters are still in love with the revolution he started among American voters.  In an effort to help unite the party, both Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders gave great speeches expressing their support for Clinton.

Nearing the end of her term as First Lady, Michelle Obama is not new to public speaking and last night, Mrs. Obama's speech was very touching.  In her speech, she talked about the experience of raising her daughters in the White House and that whomever becomes the next President will have a significant impact on our childrens' futures.  I could not agree more because while each party's platform and policy is essential to the government, I want to vote for a candidate I can respect and someone who will represent the American people in the best way possible.  Additionally, Mrs. Obama said, "our motto, when they go low, we go high."  Clearly, she is calling out Donald Trump and his polarizing , and in my opinion, often hateful and ignorant comments.

Photo by WisPolitics.com (Creative Commons license)

Even without explicitly mentioning Donald Trump during her speech, Mrs. Obama knew exactly how to target his campaign.  One of my favorite quotes from her speech in which she was describing who she looks for in a President: "Someone who understands that the issues a President faces are not black and white, and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters."  Trump seems to largely control his own Twitter account to go after the Clinton campaign, to quickly express his views, and to endlessly use the #MakeAmericaGreatAgain even though, in my opinion, he has no clear plan on how to accomplish this other than building a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Lastly, Michelle Obama helped quell the Bernie supporters by saying that in 2008 when Clinton lost in the primaries to Barack Obama, "Hillary did not pack up and go home...so she proudly stepped up to serve our country once again as Secretary of State."  Personally, watching Michelle Obama's speech last night gave me chills and she proved that she is truly an asset to the Clinton campaign.

The one word I would use to describe Sanders speech last night: emotional.  He even told his many supporters that "I think it's fair to say that no one is more disappointed than I am."  Before Sanders started his speech, the crowd gave him a standing ovation, one that left Sanders somewhat teary eyed and at a loss for words for a few moments.  Sanders knew that the DNC email scandal pushed many of his supporters further away from Clinton. so during his speech he had to show support for Clinton.  Sanders told delegates "any objective observer will conclude that-based on her ideas and leadership-Hillary Clinton must become the next President of the United States." I suppose if Sanders really wanted to, he could have mirrored Cruz's actions towards Trump at the RNC, but Sanders knew that without his endorsement and support, the Democratic Party would not easily unite.

Photo by Phil Roeder (Creative Commons license)

While I associate day one of the 2016 RNC with Melania's plagiarized speech, I will remember day one of the 2016 DNC as a night of inspiring speeches that brought the Democratic Party closer together. Now that, Mr. Trump, is how you pull off a successful first day of a convention.

To read more about Michelle Obama's speech, read this article from Politico.
To read more about Bernie Sanders's speech, read this article from CNN.

Shifting Gears From Cleveland To Philadelphia: Let The Drama Begin

It seems like just yesterday that I was leaving Thursday night from the Quicken Loans Arena, walking down East 4th, trying to catch an Uber on Euclid, and knowing that the dramatics of the 2016 RNC were over. The many RNC antics had my Twitter feed blowing up all week and, honestly, I am still trying to make sense of everything that happened. While reports are still being done on the overall success of the RNC last week, my Twitter feed is yet again busy with the start of the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Last week, the RNC opened up with chaos on the floor and plagiarism accusations, while the DNC has opened up with a huge email scandal. Are the Republicans and Democrats hosting a contest to see who can better mess up the beginning of their respective conventions? 

Both the RNC and DNC have an important role of showcasing party unity and their nominee to the American public. The name of the game here is media attention, and which party can be more newsworthy, thus hopefully attracting more voters. Two days before the RNC kicked off, Trump had the media running all over the place in an effort to confirm Mike Pence as his running mate. Clinton, trying to steal momentum from the RNC, brought the media's attention back to her by announcing Tim Kaine as her running mate three days ago. Since the primaries began, the media has had an influential role on voters' decisions and both Trump and Clinton clearly understand that.

The RNC did a fantastic job of showcasing several instances of party disunity, so the DNC should be focused on presenting a unified front. Unfortunately, as The Washington Post reports, that the "Democratic National Committee Chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigned...due to the release of thousands of embarrassing emails among party officials that appeared to show coordinated efforts to help Clinton at the expense of her rivals in the Democratic primaries." Read that article here. Whether or not these emails actually helped Clinton beat Sanders is still unclear, but Schultz made the only decision she could. Being a chair, it is highly unprofessional to lobby for one candidate over the other and the emails clearly prove a bias. To just give a snapshot of the emails sent, The Washington Post also writes that "the emails revealed a DNC official apparently discussing how to use Sanders's religion against him to help Clinton ahead of the Kentucky and West Virginia primaries."

Photo by Gage Skidmore (Creative Commons license)

So if these were private emails, then how exactly were they released to the public? These emails were hacked and released on WikiLeaks, but as The Washington Post reports "the Clinton campaign-and several cybersecurity experts-said the leak was a political ploy carried out by the Russian government to aid in the election of Donald Trump." Rather than throw out accusations at how the hack was organized, the Clinton campaign needs to do their best to recover from another scandal.

Upon hearing the news of the scandal, Donald Trump immediately had a field day by attacking Clinton yet again. On Twitter, Trump tweeted "The Democrats are in a total meltdown but the biased media will say how great they are doing! E-mails say the rigged system is alive & well!" This email scandal helped push Trump's portrayal of Clinton as 'Crooked Hillary' and will only add to a sense of distrust among voters.

So readers, just when you thought the political antics were over, the 2016 DNC has kicked off yet another round of drama. I think it is safe to say that we will be in for a long week and an even longer campaign season.

Ted Cruz Committed Political Suicide on Day 3 of the 2016 RNC

One of the most important goals for both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions is to come out appearing as a united front. Even before the 2016 RNC started, there was a DumpTrump movement trying to change the rules in order to unbind the delegates. However, that movement was not successful and Donald Trump was officially voted in as the 2016 Republican presidential nominee. Even though Trump won the nomination, Ted Cruz sparked an outcry with his speech last Wednesday night because of his decision to not endorse Trump.

But how exactly does choosing to not endorse Trump warrant political suicide? Part of the problem came from Cruz's statement that, as The New York Times reports, "Republicans should 'vote your conscience' for candidates 'up and down the ticket.'" Read that article here. By making that statement, Cruz chose not to endorse Trump for his 2016 presidential campaign. Donald Trump, Chris Christie, and the majority of the GOP booed Cruz once they realized this because earlier this year, Cruz had pledged to support whomever the Republican nominee would turn out to be. CNN reports that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said that Cruz's refusal to endorse Trump "was something selfish. And he signed a pledge. And it's his job to keep his word.'" To stress the repercussions of Cruz's decision even more, CNN also writes that "Trump lawyer Michael Cohen said...that 'the only way to describe it is political suicide.'" Read that article here. While I understand Ted Cruz's decision to not hop on the Trump train, it was not a smart political move.

Photo by Gage Skidmore (Creative Commons license)

While Cruz will not be in the running for the 2016 presidential race, The New York Times (same article as above) reports that "Mr. Cruz is up for re-election in 2018 and is said to be looking at a second campaign for president in 2020, should Mr. Trump lose in November." However, Cruz's speech has made him an outsider in the GOP and is sparking an outcry from his donors, whom he needs to keep around to help benefit his career. In addition, The New York Times writes that "Robert Mercer and daughter Rebekah Mercer..., who invested at least $11 million in "Keep the Promise, I", one of a group of interlocked "super PACs" that supported Mr. Cruz in his presidential run..., excoriated Mr. Cruz on Saturday for his decision not to endorse Donald J. Trump." To make matters worse, "the next morning Cruz was booed by members of the Texas delegation at a breakfast."

Although rivals in the primaries Cruz, like Bernie did with Hillary, should have endorsed Donald Trump. Cruz stood his ground and took a risk, but I do not believe it was a smart decision. He needs to understand that he is a part of the GOP and if the majority of the delegates are for Trump, then so is he. Trump might not even win and if he does, he can only be President for a limited time. So readers, follow Cruz's future career because his choice to not endorse Trump has the potential to cost him an election.

Why I Doubt Trump Can 'Make America Safe Again'

So the 2016 Republican National Convention is over and Donald Trump will be running as the Republican presidential nominee. On day one of the RNC and in Trump;s speech last night, there was a theme of 'Making America Safe Again'. Personally, however, I doubt Trump can actually do that if he is elected President. It is certainly acceptable to have as a goal, but in our world today, it is not realistic. Rather, it is just a catchy campaign slogan to attract voters.

So let us start with his infamous promise of building a wall on America's border with Mexico and that he will make Mexico pay for it. But how will Trump accomplish this? Well, if you go to Trump's website (link here), you will see a page titled "Compelling Mexico to Pay for the Wall". On this page Trump basically provides four options: 1) Cancelling visas; 2) Increasing visa fees; 3) Enforcing trade tariffs; 4) Stopping the allowance of remittances sent to Mexico. All of this is to keep out the criminals, drug dealers, and rapists that Mexico is sending over, Trump claims. Newsflash, Mr. Trump, wall or not illegal immigrants will still find a way to get across the border. Have you considered the amount of illegal immigrants that are in the US and are not even from a country that borders America? Clearly you cannot build a wall in the middle of the ocean. Focus on immigration reform and working with foreign governments to improve their living conditions and cease the flow of illegal immigrants.

Caricature by DonkeyHotey (Creative Commons license)

If you read my introduction for this blog, then you know I am highly interested in international relations. So let me quickly mention Trump's comments on the Middle East. Since the beginning of Trump's campaign, he has attacked Hillary Clinton's record as Secretary of State and such was the case in his speech at the RNC Thursday night. Politico has written up his remarks from that speech. Read that article here.  Last night, Trump said "In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map. Libya was stable. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence. Iran was being chocked by sanctions. Syria was somewhat under control." If Trump thinks that Clinton's actions alone caused an increase in violence and instability in the Middle East, that is a skewed viewpoint. In 2011, the Arab Spring shocked the Middle East. Essentially, sparking in Tunisia, thousands of people were fed up with their increasingly dictator-led governments and took to the streets demanding greater freedoms. Much of the instability can be traced back to the aftermath of this revolution, as each separate group tried to gain power, but Clinton alone certainly is not responsible.

Last night, Trump also proclaimed "Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo." America is considered by many International Relations scholars to be a global hegemon, but that does not make our country perfect, nor does it mean we should force our values on other countries. Who are we to act as the world government? As a country, we need to work on globalism and cooperation with the rest of the world. But by all means, Mr. Trump, please try to strong arm the Middle East into obedience. Frankly, I do not think "Americanism" is a message they will receive kindly.

Photo by Dick Swanson (Creative Commons license)

Lastly, on the domestic front, Trump stated last night that he "will restore law and order to our country." Framing himself as a "law and order" candidate is clever, considering Clinton's negative reputation highlights her as a criminal, especially with her involvement in the email scandal. But, Mr. Trump, can you really keep us safe domestically? Even before your nomination at the 2016 RNC, there have been plenty of electrically charged, borderline violent, protests centered around your polarizing opinions. And should I even mention gun control? Republicans largely oppose gun control, and while the right to bear arms is a Second Amendment right, it has developed into a huge problem, threatening thousands of lives right here at home. I firmly believe that anyone, regardless of their ethnicity or religion, and if given the opportunity, is capable of inflicting harm in our own communities.

There is simply no easy or practical way to 'Make America Safe Again' without infringing on the democratic process and without causing an international reaction. But if elected President come November, I truly do hope you prove me wrong, Mr. Trump.

Volunteering at the Quicken Loans Arena

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of volunteering at the arcade entrance to the Quicken Loans Arena. From the beginning of my shift to the end, it was quite the day.

Since I am staying on campus right now, I decided to take the RTA rapid down to Tower City. My shift started in the afternoon and I left with plenty of time. To my surprise, the Green Line ran perfectly, even with the 2016 RNC in town. After I got to Tower City, the first thing I had to do was find the volunteer check-in for the Committee on Arrangements. I found the check-in for the 2016 Host Committee and they directed me to what I thought was East 9th and Boulevard. Unfortunately, as I found out about twenty minutes later when I was suddenly on East 9th and Chester, I was supposed to go to East 9th and Bolivar, which was about four blocks in the other direction. Being from just outside Chicago, I can handle navigating through crowds, but I am not completely familiar with Cleveland yet. Needless to say, I definitely got my exercise in yesterday.

Anyway, once I got to the check-in outside of Progressive Field, I received my credential for the day and walked through the secure area to the Quicken Loans Arena to receive my assignment. The whole day I was stationed at the arcade entrance and checked the credentials of the media who entered and helped open doors. While I did not see the convention in action, it felt good to be one of the first friendly faces people saw entering the arena.

(My view standing outside the Q)

Just like the volunteers I met at the hotel I volunteered at on Monday and Wednesday, these volunteers were just as great. Most of them worked all week and that is certainly a feat. Working at one of the entrances to the arena required being constantly on your feet and staying focused because there were a ton of people moving every which way. Paying attention to the credentials was also highly important because certain credentials are only accepted in certain spots.

Right before I left that night, I was able to hear part of Donald Trump's acceptance speech. While I may not agree with most of his ideas and comments, it was almost surreal to be in the same arena as the 2016 Republican presidential nominee. In just a few short months, Donald Trump may be the next President of the United States and I will never forget volunteering at the Quicken Loans Arena on the last day of the 2016 RNC.  History was just made in Cleveland, and while I may not be mentioned in the books, I was grateful to be in and around Cleveland volunteering that week.

Ohio Governor John Kasich Skipping the 2016 RNC

Occurring once every four years, both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions are a huge event for the host city. Essentially, it is comparable to the Olympics, but for politicians. Many of the volunteers I have talked to are proud that Cleveland was chosen and are trying to showcase it in the best light possible.

Now, you would think that Republican Governor of Ohio, John Kasich, would be in attendance. Such is not the case, but he is still active in both Cincinnati and Cleveland. Kasich's absence has been felt at the RNC and is adding to the perception of disunity among Republicans as a party.

This past Sunday, the day before the 2016 RNC kicked off, The Daily Caller, reports that "Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich...will speak at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Annual Convention in Cincinnati." Read that article here. In addition, Kasich was joined by "presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton", and although invited, Donald Trump declined to speak. The convention in Cincinnati on Sunday set the tone for the rest of the week between Trump's and Kasich's teams. At a time when the GOP should be focusing on unifying the party, discord is clearly present.

Photo by Gage Skidmore (Creative Commons license)

After visiting Cincinnati, Kasich made a stop in Cleveland, but not at the Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland.com reports that Kasich "thanked more than 1,800 supporters gathered at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." Read that article here. While Kasich may not be the next GOP presidential nominee, he has certainly made it clear that his influence is ever present in Ohio.

In addressing Kasich's absence from the 2016 RNC, Paul Manafort is quoted on Politico saying that Kasich is "making a big mistake...and people who are part of the future of the Republican party are, frankly, going to be here participating in the program. Read that article here.

So, readers, will the GOP finally be able to come together by the end of the convention tomorrow or will there be a greater presence of discontent? Watch and listen closely to what influential Republicans do and say on their opinion of Trump and/or the state of the GOP.