AFTER THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION: THEN WHAT?

…Now that both conventions are almost over, what’s next?

 

Can Hillary convince disgruntled Republicans to cross over and vote Democratic?

 

A Washington op-ed writer had said this about what was going on after the first day of the Democratic National Convention, “The middle of a tornado is not the best time to check the weather, and, “Don’t be fooled by convention bounces.”

 

This was written after a CNN poll conducted between the two conventions showed a 6-point GOP bounce from their convention.  But neither Trump’s supporters nor Clinton’s should read very much into those numbers or any of the other weekend polls.

 

The hope for day 2 of the Democratic Convention was that Bernie and Hillary’s supporters would finally coalesce into a workable operation, and it appears that did happen, mostly.  Also, that the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the DNC Chair and the e-mail scandal showing that the DNC was not neutral in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, was hopefully behind them.

 

One must admit that these two weeks, beginning with what happened at that bizarre GOP convention the week before, was nothing short of totally weird.

 

If we just look at the RNC’s big week, what did we see?

 

·       The GOP nominee attacked the convention’s missing governor of Ohio. 

 

·       The nominee’s wife plagiarized the 2008 nomination speech of the wife of the current Democratic president: "She just used common words."

 

·       The nominee’s campaign manager was trying to deny, and he failed, saying that the nominee’s wife did not plagiarized the speech.

 

·       Saw the last GOP candidate to drop out of their primary race, give a speech that didn’t endorse or encourage voting for the eventual GOP nominee.

 

·       Finally, we heard the nominee give the most bizarre and the bleakest acceptance speech ever given.

 

Now, one would think that with all that, it would be handing the presidency to the opposition with a ribbon tied to it.  But remember, we are talking about Trump’s “Crooked Hillary” here, and with the strong political battle between Hillary and Bernie, nothing is going to be that simple this time.

 

Who would have thought that before the Democratic Convention, WikiLeaks would be providing thousands of DNC e-mails, presumably hacked by Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin operation, for trying to help the Republican nominee?  And now the GOP nominee wants Russia help him by encouraging them to hack into Hillary’s old server and find her 30,000 deleted personal e-mails….right.

 

The point is, don’t take any heed of the polls until a couple of weeks after the Democratic convention.  By then the real polls should be somewhere in a place that you can count on them for some good numbers.

 

The question now is, after the conventions, what does Hillary need to do to crank up her campaign?

 

By picking Virginia Senator Tim Kaine for her VP running mate, it was a good pick, but it did not thrill the “lefties” in her party. 

 

It is important for us to be clear about political conventions and the individuals that attend those events.  Conventions are not just gatherings of random Democrats or Republicans. They are gatherings of the most passionate and partisan elements of both parties, and that often means the most ideological elements, especially of those on the left.

 

Remember, it’s been a long time since the left of the Democratic party has been as strong as they are today.  Because of Bernie Sanders “Revolution”, the Democrats now have the most liberal platform ever.

 

Hillary Clinton must now decide on the tone of the convention’s final days, and that includes Obama’s speech, and her speech, and how much to the left she will go.

 

Both parties also have to keep in mind what did happen at the Republican Convention.

 

You will recall that Trump’s Cleveland event featured those angry Republicans cheering about Hillary to “lock her up!”   Does Clinton now have that rare opportunity to reach out to “persuadable Republican voters” that were frightened by Donald Trump’s drastic tone and his un-Republican policy positions?

 

The easiest route for Clinton in Philadelphia is to continue bashing Donald Trump, and any Republican supporting him, by using the same rhetoric that Democrats have been using for the past year.  You know, by calling him “anti-women,” “anti-immigrant” and “a racist with totalitarian delusions”.  Let’s face it, the Democrats have plenty of ammunition on Trump.  Now he even looks like a Russian sympathizer.

 

In addition, Hillary could also take a giant step toward the White House if she will both firm up the Democratic base and also reach out to those potential swing voters.  Especially those Republicans who are unnerved by Trump’s dictatorial rhetoric, his narcissism and vulgarity, and his simplistic approach to complex issues.

 

The reality for most Republicans is that Hillary Clinton isn’t an ideal fit for most Republicans, even those who find Trump unacceptable.

 

She is a mainstream Democrat whose personal judgment has already been called into question and for whom truthfulness seems a moving target. She has been involved in electoral politics for decades at a time when many Americans are demanding real change.  They are also highly skeptical of the political establishment.  But even more importantly, few Republicans are going to agree with her views on the role of government.

 

The real question is, can Clinton risk losing the “base” of Democratic voters by reaching out to anti-Trump Republicans?  Can she attract those Republicans anyway, given their belief of Trump’s, “Crooked Hillary”  and “Lyin’ Hillary” claiming that she is so dishonest?

 

The answer to those questions depends on what it might take to reach Republicans and moderate voters and to pull them into the Clinton column.

 

As her initial political ads have shown, using measured, serious presentations using Trump’s own words appears it could be just enough. No screaming, just stating the facts slowly and carefully.

 

Then, Clinton could look for areas where her positions might make Republicans comfortable. Foreign policy would be the obvious place to start, given Trump’s decision to undermine NATO, his flirtation with Putin and his isolationist approach

 

Finally, perhaps Clinton could acknowledge that the only way the country is going to deal with issues such a terrorism and ISIS is if Democrats and Republicans work together. She should not sound naïve, but she could at least concede the limits of presidential power and the importance of working with the opposition on Capitol Hill.

 

The reality is whether Hillary Clinton can walk a fine line and appeal to both her base and to disgruntled Republicans.

 

I guess we will all find that out this November 8^th.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016

 

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