What Went Down On Night 3 Of The RNC

A typical incumbent strategy is to point to how things are going well — but here, by pointing to violence in cities, Noem is trying to thread a more uncommon needle, pointing to events on the GOP’s watch while trying to blame local Democrats.

Noem points out that America has sometimes failed to live up to its ideals, and references a time when a young Abraham Lincoln raised concerns over an unruly mob he witnessed. But she uses this as a segue to say that protests and unrest in cities like Portland are an example of what “radical” “Democrat-led” policies will lead to.

Responding to Sarah, I’m not sure we’ve seen all that much pivoting this week. A lot of the messaging has been that there’s chaos, and it would get worse with a Democratic victory. A notable exception was when Donald Trump Jr. called George Floyd’s killing a tragedy. I’m curious what he or other speakers would say about the shooting of Jacob Blake or the shooting of protesters yesterday. But if many of these speeches are recorded, there may not be much addressing of this at all.