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Donald Trump may have sealed the outcome of the 2024 election with a performance Thursday night in Milwaukee that is largely unmatched in recent American political history.
The former president avoided the polarization and division that have marked much of his past speeches. In his speech formally accepting the Republican nomination, he made only a few references to the 2020 election. Trump managed to deliver key messages when he addressed topics like inflation and especially immigration, in a way that was compelling and arguably in tune with the fundamental concerns of Americans.
I don’t say this to exaggerate, because I have never been – and am not – a Trump supporter. But as a political analyst, you have to recognize the reality. And the reality of that speech was simple: Trump talked about the American dream, he talked about bringing people together, he talked about helping African-Americans, Hispanics and those who have been left behind.
In short, Trump did something he had almost never done before: he spoke to the entire American people. As he said, he wanted to speak not to 50 percent, but to 100 percent of the American people.
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Trump also understood that this was not the time to attack President Joe Biden personally or even by name. His only reference to Biden was an aside to let the crowd in Milwaukee, and indeed across the country, know what he thought at a time when the outgoing president is still reeling from his poor debate performance and COVID, not to make him appear like a victim. Instead, Trump was able to convincingly crystallize the challenges the American people face with the current administration and offer some degree of assurance that things would be different under his leadership.
True, Trump did not offer any specific policy recommendations in his speech, beyond closing the borders and cutting taxes. But there was a degree of optimism and confidence in his remarks that has been noticeably absent from the darker, more pessimistic speeches the 45th president of the United States has delivered over the years.
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He also spoke, in an elegant and empathetic way, about what happened to him last Saturday in Butler Township, Pennsylvania. He spoke about his experience of the assassination attempt in a way that kept me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew the story very well and had seen the video many times.
In other words, the entire speech and its production made Trump seem much more likeable and likable than he has ever been before.
Certainly, the circumstances, as difficult and trying as they may have been to get to this point, worked in the former president’s favor. But in every way, he rose to the occasion and offered the American people something profound that was missing under the current administration: hope, strength, and a sense that the best was yet to come for our nation.
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I expect Trump to improve his poll numbers as a result of this week. I say this not only because of his speech Thursday night, but because of the entire convention. It was one of the best, if not the best, choreographed and produced spectacles I have seen in 50 years of following American political conventions.
The effort to reach out to workers and those who enjoy sports like professional wrestling and the UFC speaks to Republicans’ desire to expand their constituency and solidify their position as the party of American working people.
I also believe that if I am right and Trump rises in the polls after the Republican convention, the support that has been steadily eroding for Joe Biden since his terrible debate performance three weeks ago will only increase and the pressure on him to drop out of the race will be inexorable. In fact, it already seems inevitable.
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It’s hard to see how Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or whoever the Democratic nominee is, will be able to compete with this speech and the events of this week. And I fully expect that the division within the Democratic Party will only increase because of the success of the Republican convention.
As an American, I am pleased, even proud, that Republicans are seeking explicitly, and I think for the first time, to unify the entire country and to put aside the bitterness and resentment that have so often been evident.
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As a Democrat, I don’t know how my party will react in a month or two to Trump’s candidacy. For now, suffice it to say that the challenges he faces have only grown larger and more significant after this week, after a speech and convention that can only be described as an undeniable success. The events and speech in Milwaukee will stand up well to any attempts by the mainstream media to discredit Trump and his speech. (And they have already begun.)
Some will say that Trump’s speech was too long Thursday night. And that may be true. But Americans, unlike political commentators, simply turn off the television, they do not denigrate the candidate for his long speeches.
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