What Went Down On Night 1 Of The RNC

It seemed to me that the production values of the GOP convention were simply higher than those at last week’s Democratic confab. Maybe that had to do with the fact that Democrats more fully embraced a virtual convention. But otherwise, the evening had a few simple themes: Democrats are socialists, want anarchy and chaos, seek to defund the police, and Biden is the Trojan horse who will make it all possible if he’s elected. That sort of messaging fits in with negative partisanship, which holds that many voters dislike the other party more than they like their own. It’s hard to say whether this could bring in more voters who have mixed to negative feelings toward the president, however.

A lot of what went on tonight was playing hide the football. Scott gave an effective speech, but wasn’t talking very much about Trump. People praised what the economy looked like during Trump’s first three years, but not really talking about what happened to it under COVID-19. That’s probably the best the Republicans can do under the circumstances, though, and the production values were better than I expected.

Republicans merged their traditional ideological themes and attacks on Democrats with Trump’s rhetoric and priorities, highlighting diverse speakers who could be better messengers for swing voters and reluctant Republican voters than Trump. But it is more difficult to run a fear-based campaign for a second term without answering criticisms of the incumbent’s record.