There are plenty of things about this week’s Republican National Convention that are anything but conventional, most notably the GOP presidential candidate himself.
But high on the same list is that the party finds itself deeply split at the very moment, every four years, when it’s supposed to at least put on a show of rock-solid unity.
Not that the split is anything like 50-50: most Republican leaders, including most members of Congress, have fallen into line behind Donald Trump, whatever their misgivings.
But the lineup of speakers for the convention “underscores the fractures among the party’s elected officials, especially as it faces the possibility that it won’t have Trump leading them this time next year and that tying themselves to him could also cost them their jobs,” writes the Washington Post political analyst Amber Phillips.
Phillips notes that for the second straight convention, “the only living past Republican president, George W. Bush,” won’t be there. He skipped 2016, too, knowing Trump would be nominated.
“We also won’t see a ton of Republican senators and House lawmakers who are running for reelection in potentially competitive races,” including Republican senators running for reelection in swing states like Colorado, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia and Maine, Phillips says. Some are running reelection ads for themselves that don’t even mention Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won’t even be there, replaced by addled rock-rapper Kid Rock, who can at times join Trump himself on the pinnacle of Incoherence Mountain.
What’s more, Reuters reported on Monday that at least 27 former Republican members of Congress went a big step further than simply not speaking at the convention: they endorsed Joe Biden and joined a group, “Republicans for Biden,” organized by the Biden campaign.
Among them is former Sen. Jeff Flake of Florida, who explained his decision in a 16-minute video:
“Given what we have experienced over the past four years, it’s not enough just to register our disapproval of the president,” Flake said. “We need to elect someone else in his place, someone who will stop the chaos and reverse the damage.”
Even some prominent conservatives, like opinion columnist Bonnie Kristian, are said to be “horrified” by what this week could become for the GOP, reports the news website Raw Story.
There will be “eager Young Republicans in their first grown-up suits, vying for an internship at their favorite think tank,” Kristian writes in The Week, along with “D-list celebrities and cringey attempts to be hip to what the kids think is groovy.”
Also on Monday, another anti-Trump Republican group, the Lincoln Project, announced that former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele had joined it as a senior adviser.
“The chair behind the Resolute Desk” in the Oval Office, Steele said in a statement, “has always been bigger than any political party,” but no more.
“Sadly, we have witnessed its occupant devolve into preying upon fears and resentments with narcissism that nurtures only chaos and confusion,” Steele said. “Leadership is needed now more than ever.”
For this week’s convention, any “leadership” apparently will have to come from Trump’s multiple planned and unplanned appearances, from his own family — five of them, from Ivanka and Don Jr. to Melania, Eric and Tiffany — and from his tepid vice president.
