MILWAUKEE — Republicans are in complete lockstep while Democrats find themselves in the somewhat unusual position of trying to resolve major internal differences in public.
This week has seen a stunning show of division: Republicans have flocked to Wisconsin, united and energized behind former President Trump’s candidacy, while Democrats are openly divided over whether President Biden should remain in the lead in November’s presidential election.
On Tuesday, Trump’s biggest rivals in the primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, took to the stage to urge Republicans to support Trump’s candidacy. On Wednesday, Biden tested positive for COVID-19 and was reportedly asked to step down by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
It’s a far cry from the 2016 Republican National Convention, when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who also spoke this week, urged delegates to vote their conscience and some in the party braced for defeat to then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in November.
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (Republican), who attended this week’s convention but did not speak on stage, said “I think they learned something” from Cruz’s 2016 withdrawal.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-Ill.) said this week’s convention was “perfectly run.”
“In 2016, we didn’t have someone who had served in the White House, who had a proven track record of proving their ability, and while we were united, we weren’t as united as we are now,” he told The Hill. “So we’re not just united, we’re a growing party, and our base of support is bigger than it’s ever been. It’s deeper than it’s ever been.”
Republicans flocking to Wisconsin could hardly have hoped for a more spectacular series of events.
Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday, standing with a bloodied face and raising his fist in an inspiring moment for his supporters. On Monday, a federal judge dismissed what was widely considered the most serious criminal case against him. Trump then further galvanized his party by announcing Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate.
Meanwhile, Biden canceled an event on Monday in the wake of the shooting at a Trump rally. On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) called on Biden to “pass the baton,” and Biden was forced to cancel a rally with Latino leaders after testing positive for COVID-19.
The Republican Party has often been in disarray since Trump came down the escalator in 2015 and announced his candidacy for president.
Polls had shown Trump was likely to lose to Clinton in 2016, and after the “Access Hollywood” tapes were released in October that year, some Republicans did not acknowledge Trump as a candidate.
Trump’s four years in office have come at a time when Republican lawmakers have struggled to distance themselves from his inflammatory rhetoric and finalize longstanding campaign promises, such as repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Since recapturing the House majority, House Republicans have been plagued by infighting over the past 18 months, struggled to select a speaker and faced repeated backlash from the right wing of the chamber.
But this week’s conference has a very different feel, with the party energized by both political events and an assassination attempt.
“This emotional week started on Saturday with the events in Butler, Pennsylvania, where our flag bearer came within an inch or two of dying and now he’s with us. This has given us such an inspiration. It’s hard to put into words,” Kramer said.
Republicans have been on a fairly uniform message this week. Haley, who was Trump’s biggest rival in the primary but didn’t endorse him when he dropped out, took the stage on Tuesday to say she “strongly” supports the former president.
Nearly every speaker’s message was either to praise Trump as a strong leader or to offer sharp criticism on the border, inflation, foreign policy or whether Biden is fit to serve another four years in office. Critics of the former president, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Cruz and Vance, endorsed Biden in some of the week’s most high-profile speeches.
Polls show Trump holding a narrow lead over Biden in national polls. By comparison,RealClearPolitics AverageAt the end of the 2016 Republican National Convention, Trump was trailing Clinton by 2 percentage points nationally, according to polling data.
But party leaders have vowed victory is far from assured in November’s election, more than three months away, and some have pointed to Mr Trump’s 2016 defeat as an example of how the race could swing dramatically in favour of the Democrats.
“Never take anything for granted. If you look at the polls in 2016, you know Donald Trump never had a chance to become president,” Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump said this week. “And we all know how that turned out.”
“So we feel like we have the wind at our back. We’re feeling great momentum as a party right now. It’s a great environment,” she continued. “There’s a lot of energy, but we’ve got to keep playing until that buzzer goes off on November 5th at the last minute of the game.”
