The surprising optimism of the RNC


Here is a genuine surprise. So far from being a dystopian festival of gloom and violence, the first night of this year's virtual Republican National Convention was a sunny, optimistic affair about the health — literal and otherwise — of the United States of America. There were no mentions of death counts or unemployment statistics. Even the tough-on-crime segments were undercut by praise for President Trump's ostensibly humane attitude on the subject of criminal justice.
This was not the convention I had expected. It was arguably less focused on blood and violence and death than the RNC was in 2016. With the exception of a brief video segment paying tribute to medical professionals, it could have been aired if COVID-19 had never been transmitted to these shores. It seemed to belong to January 2020, when Trump's pitch for re-election was the strength of the economy, the record high minority employment rate, the stock market through the roof, and the president facing nothing more serious than a spiteful impeachment plot.
Part of what contributed to this view was the relatively competent logistics. With the exception of one somewhat bizarre focus-group segment in which Trump asked a self-avowed custodian what her line of work entailed, the evening's proceedings were mostly indistinguishable from what you would have expected at a normal in-person convention. In this Republicans benefited from going a week after Democrats slogged through music videos, montages, group recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance, and goofy celebrity cameos. They seemed to understand what worked in the current socially distanced medium and what did not. (You would not have noticed this, though, if you had watched the broadcast on CNN or MSNBC, which periodically interrupted the evening's proceedings in order to tut-tut speakers for not wearing masks.)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Whether this jubilant mood will hold over the course of the next three evenings, including during Trump's own remarks, is an open question.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.
-
Book reviews: 'America, América: A New History of the New World' and 'Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson'
Feature A historian tells a new story of the Americas and the forgotten story of a pioneering preacher
-
Another messaging app used by the White House is in hot water
The Explainer TeleMessage was seen being used by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz
-
AI hallucinations are getting worse
In the Spotlight And no one knows why it is happening
-
The anger fueling the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez barnstorming tour
Talking Points The duo is drawing big anti-Trump crowds in red states
-
Why the GOP is nervous about Ken Paxton's Senate run
Today's Big Question A MAGA-establishment battle with John Cornyn will be costly
-
Bombs or talks: What's next in the US-Iran showdown?
Talking Points US gives Tehran a two-month deadline to deal
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
-
Are we really getting a government shutdown this time?
Talking Points Democrats rebel against budget cuts by Trump, Musk
-
Will Trump lead to more or fewer nuclear weapons in the world?
Talking Points He wants denuclearization. But critics worry about proliferation.
-
Why Trump and Musk are shutting down the CFPB
Talking Points And what it means for American consumers
-
Are we now in a constitutional crisis?
Talking Points Trump and Musk defy Congress and the courts