What Went Down On Night 1 Of The RNC

Night 1 of the RNC is done … and it went off without any technical glitches or glaring mishaps, despite reports that it was still being planned right up until the last minute. There definitely is an argument to be made that Republicans benefitted from exceeding lowered expectations. That doesn’t mean everything went smoothly tonight, though. Republicans tried to cover a lot of ground and some of it was definitely at odds or, at times, even contradictory.

For instance, Republicans tried to make the case that the Black Lives Matter protests were driven by an extreme, left-leaning faction in the Democratic Party, when public opinion shows a broad swath of Americans supported the underlying reasons driving the protests. Similarly, many of tonight’s speakers tried to blame China for the coronavirus, when the U.S. delayed taking proactive actions that would have slowed the spread of the virus earlier. And Republicans also tried to introduce a more empathetic and sympathetic leader in Trump, with many of tonight’s speakers focusing on the kindness he had shown them, while simultaneously taking Democrats to task for promoting a “cancel culture” bent on silencing voices and opinion.

That is, as we said, a lot to get through — and it’s unclear how much of this resonated with those beyond Trump’s base. A lot of public opinion on Trump is pretty baked in at this point. But one thing is clear from tonight: Republicans are going to try and sell Americans on what is already great about America. The question is, how convincing do Americans find that argument?

To relive the live blog in all its chronological glory, scroll back through, but if that’s too much work, here are the team’s headlines from tonight:

• Julia: It’s Trump’s GOP, But First Night Offers Hints Of The Party’s Future
• Amelia: The First Night of the RNC Paints a Picture of a Kinder, Gentler Trump
• Kaleigh: RNC Aims For A More Traditional Style For First Night Of Virtual Convention
• Nathaniel: RNC Night 1 Beats Expectations, Which I Know Were Low But It Still Might Matter
• Galen: After Democrats Make A Pitch To Romney-Clinton Voters, GOP Makes A Pitch To Obama-Trump Voters. The Realignment Is Here To Stay.
• Geoffrey: The First Night Of GOP Convention Offers A Mix Of American Carnage And American Exceptionalism
• Matt: Diverse Cast of Republicans Touts A Culture War for American Exceptionalism
• Emily: A Reality TV Election Star Gets His First Live Reality TV Convention
• Meena: On The First Day Of The RNC, Republicans Sent To Us … A Normal Convention In A Not Too Normal World

I have lots of little takeaways from RNC Night 1 that don’t really add up to one big one, so here goes: The in-person format worked well and made for a more seamless presentation than the DNC, and there was more substance to a lot of the speeches than just “Trump is good.” Scott’s speech was especially good, and I thought it was interesting that Republicans focused on a lot of the old hits like school vouchers and appointing Supreme Court justices. On the other hand, it’s interesting that those speeches existed alongside those of Gaetz and Guilfoyle, who gave very over-the-top, Trumpier speeches. Even though Trump has shown that rhetoric can be effective at rallying a base, I just don’t think it’s an effective message to the American public. Overall, the “optimism” we were told would be present at the RNC was in short supply tonight (again, with the notable exception of Scott’s speech). Overall, a pretty whiplash-y night.

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.

Much of the first night seemed to take a classic law-and-order approach, painting a scary picture if the other side governs and a rosy one if they don’t. While most of the lineup was about reaffirming support for Trump, I found Scott’s speech to be a small window into what the Republican Party could become if it ran campaigns that tried to win over Black voters and other voters of color.

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.)

I’ll be back tomorrow with my grades a little bit more fleshed out, but here’s where they currently stand.

Address important party groups – Proficient. I think there’s room for improvement here, especially in reaching out to evangelicals and other religious conservatives within the party.

Create party unity – Adequate. A big takeaway for me tonight is the balance between showcasing lots of minority voices, some of whom talked about race directly, and comments like Charlie Kirk’s about Trump as the “bodyguard of Western civilization.”

Reach beyond the party base – Inadequate. The convention featured one Democratic speaker, but lots of negative rhetoric about the other party — not great outreach if they want to pick up Democratic voters who are on the fence.

Command the news cycle – Too early to know. I’ll revisit this later. Putting “adequate” as a placeholder for now.

Rally sentiment against Democrats – Exemplary. There were classic critiques of Democrats, like accusations of socialism, and newer ones about “wokeness” and defunding the police.

Explain and publicize the party’s positions. – Proficient. The latter half of the night was pretty clear about some of Republicans’ policy stances – deregulation, lowering taxes, pulling out of foreign policy agreements like the Iran deal. Discussion of COVID-related policy was lacking, however.

I think the Republicans could actually reach some wavering voters by having more speakers who talk like Scott and fewer who talk like Guilfoyle. Trump is a known quantity — you’re not going to change minds about him at this point. But as for what a party actually does with its power, an optimistic vision is rare and welcome.

Response on Twitter suggests the first night of the convention did not change any dynamics, with sentiment towards Trump starting and ending the night in about the same place and about the same level of volume.

Thinking back to Night 1 of the DNC last week, I remember this live blog spending quite a bit of time talking about how disjointed and unfocused it felt. As we’re wrapping up Night 1 of the RNC, this production has felt very different. For the most part, it’s been pretty smooth and effective. That’s to say, the “mess” some people predicted never really happened tonight.

I think Scott’s speech is a reminder of what a platform a convention can be, Chris! A lot of people are probably thinking pretty highly of Scott right now, or are at least intrigued.

Maybe I’ve been too entrenched on the sports side, but I watch a speech like that and wonder how the Republicans haven’t had Scott more out front in the past.

Scott rounds out the night with appeals to white voters by appealing to Black voters –something several speakers did earlier in the night. The phrase “Our families went from cotton to Congress …” really seems to reinforce the overall theme of the American dream, and I can see that one sticking beyond the convention.

I think Scott probably does have some credibility with black voters but yes, white moderates are the real audience for sure. I also think Scott wants to run for president or vice president at some point, so in some ways, I think he is speaking for himself. This has been a good moment for him — prime time speech, told his personal story, didn’t go too far in defending Trump’s racial remarks. “From cotton to Congress” is a very memorable line. Very well-done speech.

This goes back to a point Perry made earlier on the live blog. Who is Scott’s intended audience? White voters in the suburbs?

Scott says the Biden-Harris ticket want a “cultural revolution,” a pretty obvious reference to China’s sociopolitical movement in the 1960s and 70s backed by then-leader Mao Zedong.

Scott has had some powerful lines in this speech. Particularly the “from cotton to Congress” one.

While the only Black Republican in the Senate is speaking on the first night of the RNC this year, the only Black Republican in the House, Rep. Will Hurd, told us earlier this summer that he’s unsure about whether he’ll vote for Trump in November.

It is pretty amazing to hear the 1994 crime bill get criticized at a Republican convention. At the time, it was a genuinely bipartisan effort. Now, neither party wants anything to do with it.

I think Scott’s giving a really good speech. Personal story connected to actual old-school GOP bread-and-butter issues. Talks about the evolution of peoples’ views on race.

Scott says that it’s baseless to think that things were better in the 1860s or 1960s. I suspect most people would agree with him in the 1860s, but funnily enough, a lot of Republicans ahead of the 2016 election thought life had changed for the worst since the 1950s. In October 2016, Public Religion Research Institute found that 72 percent of Trump voters thought things had worsened while 70 percent of Clinton supporters thought things had improved.

Scott criticizes Biden for being a proponent of the 1994 crime bill. It’s a tricky maneuver to both criticize Democrats as being soft on law and order but also overly punitive.

Scott is giving a very optimistic speech. Southern conservatives voted for this Black man over Thurmond’s grandson, he emphasizes. He didn’t try to sugarcoat Trump’s racial remarks, but Scott is attacking many of Biden’s comments on racial issues.

Over on CNN, Jake Tapper expressed surprise at how Trump Jr.’s speech was a political barn burner and included basically no biographical information on his dad — agreeing with some folks here.

“Because of the evolution of the southern heart,” says Scott in explaining how he — a Black man — was able to win in a state that segregationist Strom Thurmond once controlled.

Agreed, Perry. Scott’s speech is a style of conservative optimism that hasn’t really been in fashion since at least 2012.

Tax code! Is Paul Ryan being paged?

Republicans’ central legislative achievement of the Trump administration was the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The main part of that legislation mentioned tonight has been opportunity zones, which at the time did not gain that much attention. Scott was influential in its inclusion.

I totally agree, Perry. And it’s tied to a vintage GOP issue of school choice.

Scott asks if Americans want a society where any little thing can get someone “canceled.” This has been the “Democrats are cancel culture” night.

Scott is really leaning into this opportunity to tell his own personal story. This speech could have been given at a convention for Jeb Bush or a Marco Rubio nominating convention.

It’s Gamecock night at the RNC!

Apart from Haley, Scott is one of the only other prominent non-Trumpian Republicans speaking at the convention, and they’re stacking them both in the same night. The programming on the other three nights is likely to be even Trumpier, in other words.

Scott said last year that the 2022 Senate election would be his last. It’s interesting to me then that the RNC wanted him to speak. On the one hand, as the only Black GOP senator in the party right now, I understand why Trump wanted Scott to speak tonight, as part of the GOP’s argument tonight is focused on diversity in the party and how their embrace of diversity is different than Democrats. But on the other hand, the fact that he’s already so publicly started to distance himself from the GOP makes him an at least somewhat odd choice to represent the party.

Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, takes the podium. (The only Black Republican in the House is Rep. Will Hurd and he is retiring in January.)

Galen, when it comes to the power of ads or other messages to persuade people of untrue things, I think that it probably matters more whether the information conflicts with something people already believe than whether it is objectively true.

Galen, one theory political scientists have is that these talking points matter when they come from counter-stereotypical sources. I think you see this playing out in the inclusion of Black politicians and immigrants in the convention lineup.

Perry’s earlier point makes me think of a question for any of the political scientists present who know the research: How effective are speeches, ads or talking points at convincing voters of things that are dramatically exaggerated or just plain false?

Yes Geoff, negative partisanship is probably one of the most pronounced trends of our time.

Seems like a perfect emblem for negative partisanship. You don’t even necessarily love your party — though you may love your party’s candidate — but you really don’t like the other party.

In fairness, Seth, the first night of the DNC was also mostly about defining Democrats as “not Trump.” They filled out their message the other three nights.

We’ve heard a lot of criticism of the GOP lately, that they don’t have a platform or an agenda. This evening hasn’t really refuted that, but the speakers have made it very clear what they are against: the Democratic nominees and their socialism/anarchism/political correctness.

I think that’s right, Perry. I noted the sometimes-tense relationship between the Democratic Party and the Black Lives Matter movement in last week’s live blog.

If Nikole Hannah-Jones was the Democratic nominee, some of this convention would make more sense. Casting America as having a history of racism, criticizing the Founders — that’s not really the view of the official Democratic Party, but the view of people who are fairly critical of the official Democratic Party. The Black Lives Matter protesters who are being cast as allied with the Democratic Party often hate the Democratic Party.

This matches Trump Jr.’s speech in 2016, which again seemed to match conventional Republican talking points more than the other children’s speeches. He has also pursued the traditional up-and-coming conservative route since then, writing books titled “Liberal Privilege” and “Triggered” to appeal to the Fox News audience.

A recent, way-too-early poll of the 2024 Republican primary for president gave Pence 31 percent, Trump Jr. 17 percent, Haley 11 percent, Mitt Romney 9 percent and Ted Cruz 8 percent.