The Republican National Convention wraps in Charlotte, North Carolina tonight, with President Trump formally accepting the party’s nomination from the White House. While the coronavirus pandemic has stymied a majority of the convention’s in-person events, many of New York’s delegates have been watching closely from afar. WAMC’s Jesse King spoke with delegates from the Capital Region…
Susan McNeil of Amsterdam is having a much quieter convention experience this year. Not long after the coronavirus pandemic moved the RNC to Jacksonville, Florida, the spike in COVID-19 cases down South scaled back the event altogether, and shipped what remained back to Charlotte. For McNeil, that has meant less travel, less excitement – and perhaps a little more reminiscing about 2016.
"Some people are fed up, and don't want the country to change that much one way or the other. And I think they feel comfortable that with President Trump, at least they know what they're gonna get."
“I met so many people and so many officials and even some actors – Joe Piscopo, I remember I met him and Robert Davi. Being able to talk to Tucker Carlson – I mean, we had a blast down there,” says McNeil.
This time around, McNeil says she’s spending the days with her grandson, keeping up with the news, and mentally preparing for the addresses each night. Chris Tague of Schoharie says it’s business as usual for him as well – business as State Assemblyman for the 102nd District, that is. He says only a handful of the state’s 94 delegates are actually in Charlotte, and after Monday’s roll call, all that’s left to do is watch.
"Well I think the first lady gave a wonderful speech...also [U.S.] Senator Tim Scott. This is a man, and he said it, 'my family went from cotton to Congress' in a lifetime," says Tague. "It really emulates the American dream, and that it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. If you do things the right way, and you work hard, and you use personal responsibility, and you believe in yourself, then you can accomplish anything."
Despite sinking poll numbers during the pandemic, President Trump has doubled-down on messages of strength, patriotism, and particularly law and order. In a recent interview with the New York Post, President Trump predicted he could flip New York state in November – something that no Republican nominee has accomplished since President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Tague acknowledges that historically, New York has leaned blue – but he argues that Trump has drastically changed the Republican Party, and continues to pull in new voters. He says recent events, like the wave of Black Lives Matter protests currently sweeping the country, add fuel to the fire.
"I drive down a road in any part of my district, [and] it’s nothing to see five or six Trump signs or Trump flags on people’s front lawns. People that you would say normally aren’t politically active – some people are fed up, and don’t want the country to change that much one way or the other," Tague explains. "And I think they feel comfortable that with President Trump, at least they know what they’re gonna get.”
What they’re gonna get – according to McNeil – is someone who finally stands up to the “lies of the left and the lies of the media.” She says the change brought by Trump in the Republican Party lies in part with the rise of progressive Democrats, like U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. The president’s pushback, his unwillingness to bend, or to even answer the questions of the press – it all works in his favor.
"We have a red wave here that we're not backing down."
“We are tired of the McCains – we respect the man and what he did in his life, but we do not respect how he gave away the farm, so to speak, to the Democrats when they would come to table," says McNeil. "When we used to hear the word ‘bipartisan’ we all would look at each other and say, ‘Well, there we go again, McCain is giving away the farm.’ Nowadays, with Congresswoman [Elise] Stefanik, when we hear ‘bipartisan’ that means that it’s a fair shake, it’s a fair deal. Both parties and both sides are getting what is needed.”
This convention has been centered on Trump, with the president appearing in multiple segments before his formal address tonight, and speeches from several of his family members across the week. Assemblyman Tague says delegates took policy questionnaires leading up to the convention, but the party ultimately decided against putting together a new platform for 2020. Asked whether such a move could alienate more moderate Republicans and independents, McNeil argues the event is bringing undecided voters into the fold.
"I wanna see a red wave go all across this state, from Long Island up to Westchester, Albany, right over up to Plattsburgh, and then head right over to Buffalo," she adds. "We have a red wave here that we're not backing down."
President Trump is expected to close the convention with his own address Thursday. WAMC will air special coverage of the event starting at 9 p.m. And you can hear an interview with New York State Republican Committee Chair Nick Langworthy on the WAMC News Podcast.
