[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Politics.]
By Bill Scher
Real Clear Politics
Most everything about this week’s Republican …
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Politics.] By Bill Scher Real Clear Politics Most everything about this week’s Republican National Convention will be the polar opposite of last week’s Democratic National Convention, except for one thing. Each has an overarching goal of winning over Republicans. Of course, this one similarity only further magnifies the dissimilar approaches of the Donald Trump and Joe Biden campaigns. Biden is aiming for the middle. Trump is playing to his base. Biden’s convention strategy was to double down on decency. Testaments to Biden’s empathetic character, and dedication to his Catholic faith. Starring roles by rogue Republicans like John Kasich, who got more time than the socialistic Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Pledges to exercise bipartisanship, but no big policy pledges that could alienate swing voters. The Democratic convention was far from a strictly positive affair. Several speakers, including vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and both Obamas, charged Trump with the loss of lives, the fueling of racial division and the undermining of the upcoming election, if not democracy itself. But Biden’s clear hope was to present himself to swing voters as a soothing balm for the past four yeas, and not give in to the desires of some in his party for political retribution and deeper polarization. Trump will have his own attempts at political jujitsu. Alice Johnson, the African American woman whose life sentence for cocaine trafficking was commuted by Trump, is set to speak and discuss criminal justice reform (and perhaps, criticize Biden and Kamala Harris for not being progressive enough on the subject). A “Democrats for Trump” segment is on the schedule, though the participants are not yet known.
