What Went Down On Night 1 Of The RNC

We saw a much different approach to an audience-less convention tonight. Most notably, we saw multiple presenters from a single location, while last week featured speakers from Zoom-ing in from across the U.S. As a television experience, it certainly flowed better, but as a viewer, it felt fairly one-note and quite safe. We saw the Democrats adjust to their new format throughout the week, and I’m curious what small changes will be put in place the rest of this week.

I think expectations for tonight (including mine) were pretty low. The plan for the RNC wasn’t clear even a few days ago. But they really pulled it off, at least in terms of the production values: It was polished, smooth, and really felt like a traditional convention. The other thing that really stood out to me was the effort by many of the speakers to talk about their personal interactions with Trump — to basically make him seem like a more empathetic figure. I wonder if we’ll see more of that this week?

Overall, this was a pretty slick production that moved at a fast clip. The monotony of having everyone speak at a podium without the sparkle of a live audience cheering and responding wasn’t quite as engaging as the DNC’s more creative take, but the GOP managed to keep things moving. It will be interesting to see if this is the plan for all four nights. (I feel like it will get tired quickly.)