🗳 What To Look For at the RNC

On August 24, the Republican National Convention (RNC) starts. As I watched the closing hours of the Democratic convention, a number of questions came to me. As you watch the RNC, I encourage you to ask yourself these questions:

• Would President Trump give out his personal phone number and encourage someone to call him just to talk? If that person did, would Trump make the conversation about him?
• Does the Republican Party/Trump have a specific health care plan? Does it cover people with pre-existing conditions, and does it make health care possible for people who lose (or do not have) employer provided health insurance?
• Does the convention/Trump emphasize that the lives of minorities matter, and discuss specific ways of ensuring that they do?
• Does the convention/Trump use coded language, such as an emphasis on “law and order”, “the blue line”, or raising the fear of “low income people” in “nice suburbs”?
• Does the convention/Trump embrace the immigrant and the refugeee?
• Does the convention/Trump celebrate diversity? How diverse was the speaker line up, vs. tokenism (i.e., just a few minority speakers thrown in to break the whiteness)?
• Does the convention/Trump talk about economic adjustment for all, or do their economic plans only benefit those who currently have?
• Does the convention/Trump guarantee to strengthen, not weaken, social security?
• Does the convention/Trump guarantee a reliable and speedy postal service?
• Does the convention/Trump emphasize the power of your vote — the power of every vote — and make clear they will do all they can to make sure every citizen can vote and every citizen’s vote is counted?
• Does the convention/Trump recognize their failures in the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic, and they offer specific fact based solutions moving forward?
• Does the convention/Trump indicate that they will listen to experts, or will they just follow popular opinion and pundits?
• Who did the convention indicate was the strength of the nation: the people, or the president? To put it another way: Was it about you, or was it about Trump?
• Was there any acknowledgement of any mistakes made during Trump’s first term? Any administration, being human, makes mistakes.
• Does the convention/Trump embrace all in the country, even the other party, or do they speak only to their base?
• Does the convention/Trump present a plan to address climate change and the impacts of increasingly severe weather incidents, or does they ignore it or treat it as a hoax?
• Do they accept responsibility for any of the problems of the last four years, or is always blamed on someone else (Obama, Biden, Clinton, Democrats, etc.)
• Does the convention/Trump condemn white supremacy, white supremacists, and racism and antisemitism?
• Does the convention/Trump embrace peaceful protest, or do they say it must be subdued?
• Does the convention/Trump demonize the other party, or do they recognize that multiple views are a hallmark of this country?
• Does Trump show vulnerability as a person? Do they describe the hardships that shaped their life and help them emphasize with the common citizen?
• In Trump’s acceptance speech, is it coherent with clear thoughts? Are there complete and coherent sentences? If it is being read from a teleprompter and not off the cuff, does it sound like it is a passionate belief from a positive speaker, or someone who is uncomfortable?

I think as you answer those questions, and compare it with the DNC, Biden’s story, Biden’s emphathy, Biden’s plan, and Biden’s acceptance speech, you find there is only one way forward.

Vote Biden/Harris. Make sure you vote is received and counted. Let’s return to normalcy and both sides talking to each other. Let’s build back better.

[Text “VOTE” to 30330 to learn how to make sure your vote is received and counted.]

ETA: PS. If you think this list is not-so-thinly veiled subject criticism … it is. But then think about what each question is implicitly criticizing, and whether you are OK with that. If you are, think about what that says about you as you vote to keep things going the way they are. However, if you are not OK with what is going on with this administration, then vote to make a change.