RNC Convention Key Takeaways, Day 2

The GOP chose to build on their first night’s theme, “Land of Promise,” and rolled out the theme “Land of Opportunity” for night two of the Republican Convention. Visually, night two of four was essentially the same using the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium and the White House interiors and gardens as a stage. There were montages, especially the Vice President’s one, where we see interviews taking place in different locations around the country. Additionally, a speech delivered on Navajo land, Shiprock New Mexico, with stunning scenery that takes your breath away.

There were less smooth transitions tonight and, some edits were glitchy. The most noticeable issue was when Nick Sandmann spoke from the Lincoln Memorial and, the ambient sound from visitors bled through the audio. Stylistically the energy was high but more intimate if that is even possible from last evening. There were plenty of bridges that connected Americans born on our soil to those just arriving, culminating in Mrs. Trump’s immigrant journey as well. The emotive thread of opportunity, redemption, and the sense that we are all America’s community stood out. Again message discipline was fierce. There was no day session for public view.

Evening Session

• Opening video “Tonight we explore together, America” on American exceptionalism narrated by Jon Voight. Watch the video here.
• Rev. Norma Urrabazo International Church of Las Vegas – watch her prayer here.
• Leighanne Ball, a military spouse, then recites the Pledge of Allegiance. Watch the pledge here.
• Myron Lizer, the Vice President of the Navajo Nation standing on location, Shiprock New Mexico, (Navajo land) as the sun sets behind him passionately praising President Trump for addressing and acting on Native Indian Issues. Specifically, Trump signed the first-ever proclamation for missing Native Indians and funding Operation Justice. Also, historic funding to Native populations in the CARES ACT. Watch his speech here.
• Jon Ponder a convicted bank robber and the FBI officer who made his arrest Richard Beasley. Both are shown in a video at the White House as the President issues Ponder a pardon, and highlight the importance of rehabilitation and their unique story and bond. The President said this is an example of “a beautiful testament to the power of redemption.” Ponder is the founder of the nonprofit Hope For Prisoners, read more about his life here. This is a powerful perspective on law enforcement and criminals who turn their lives around. “Every Social Justice Warrior” and Inner city Americans are better off for watching it.

• Forgotten Men and Women Video – watch the video here.
• Kentucky Senator Rand Paul reviewed Trump’s record on criminal justice reform (First Step Act), noting Trump acted to undo the harms that people like Biden did to lock up a generation of young black men ( Clinton Crime Bill). Paul was animated when praising Trump policies for keeping us out of war and drawing down troops to get us out of wars he inherited, pointing out Biden never met a war he did not like (Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya). He shared that as citizen Trump, his charity to help blind people, Trump funded and supported. The Senator’s pitch was aimed at Independents and Libertarians pointedly. Watch his speech here.
• Jason Joyce, lobster fisherman, Swan’s Island ME. Declared he did not vote for Trump in 2016, but Trump’s promises kept has him voting for him in 2020. He told the viewers about how Obama/Biden used the Antiquities Act to appease radical environmentalists to cripple the lobster industry. He described the actions Trump has taken to unleash prosperity for him and other families who are both conservationists and fishermen. He warned a vote for Biden/Harris will destroy their livelihoods. Watch his speech here.
• Cris Peterson, a Wisconsin dairy farmer, talked about how her 120-year-old barn caught on fire, and how Trump’s economic boom started to help dairy farmers across the United States after decades of regulations and taxes swamped them.” Trump knows what Farmers need to survive, she added and has done more good for farming and agriculture, more than any president in her lifetime.” She championed Trump’s trade deals as great for farmers and National and Domestic security. Watch her speech here.
• Small Business Video – was a montage of real people explaining how taxation and regulation changes under Trump policies changed their lives and grew their businesses. Also, post COVID how PPP had been a lifeline.
• Larry Kudlow, the White House National Economic Council Director, Reviews what Trump has done on the economy with free and fair trade deals lower taxation and regulatory reforms. He predicts a V-shaped recovery and more tax cuts and rollback of regulation if Trump gets another term. He chides Biden’s platform, who raises taxes in a pandemic recession? He asks voters if they want economic health, prosperity, and optimism or stagnation and pessimism. Watch his speech here.
• John Peterson was a small business owner in Wisconsin of Schuette Metals. He explained how lean it was during Obama years and blamed Obama-Biden, two people who knew nothing about business, for not getting government out of the way. His company was booming under Trump before COVID and said “By getting rid of the job-killing NAFTA and negotiating the US-Mexican-Canada trade agreement, President Trump ensured a more competitive playing field for American companies like ours,” he says before adding that Trump will make the economy roar back again after the Coronavirus. He then compared Trump to the WI Badgers football team – he is smart, tough, and dependable – watch his speech here.
• Cissie Graham Lynch, the granddaughter of late Rev. Billy Graham, spoke about how religious freedoms were under attack during the Obama-Biden administration by facing faith-based organizations to pay for abortion-inducing drugs and force schools to allow boys to compete as girls and use girls’ locker rooms. Trump is a “fierce advocate in the White House.” for Christians, and she said as she reviewed all the steps Trump has done to advocate and protect religious freedoms, including SCOTUS and judges. Watch her speech here.
• Bob Vlaisavljevich, a life-long Democrat and Eveleth, MN, Mayor (Iron Range), declared this is a make or break election for Americans. He gave background and ripped politicians on both sides for not standing up to China steel dumping, which wiped out the Iron Range. He credits Trump and his policies on trade and regulations for bringing the Iron Range back to life and “roaring” and communities thriving again. He warned that, like the previous Obama /Biden administration, Biden would cave to radical environmentalists. Watch his speech here.
• Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood employee now Pro-Life Activist, gave a compelling testimony for the sanctity of life from a front-row seat. She touched on Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, racist and eugenicist background, and PP purpose. She also pointed out their clinics are strategically placed in minority communities.” Safe legal and rare is a lie,” she said. Every American should hear her out and reconcile hard truths.

• Nick Sandmann, KY, was a Covington High School student. This teen was mercilessly targeted by the media when he attended the March for Life rally in Washington last year for wearing a MAGA hat. The media placed him at the center of a viral video controversy with professional activist protesters leaving out all context to the video. He later sued several media outlets for defamation and, in a landmark case, won huge settlements. Tonight he wanted to tell his story, the real story, and let all Americans know how the media smeared him because the truth didn’t matter and tried to “cancel” him. Standing at the Lincoln monument, he says he looks forward to a day when media returns to providing unbiased coverage. He encourages all Americans to embrace our First Amendment rights and not cower from the media, tech companies, or the outrage mob who seek to censor or cancel us. Then he steels himself, stares right into the camera and proudly places the red MAGA hat on his head and smiles. His painful journey is palpable as he speaks, but his resolve and value system is on full view. This young man’s story is about real bigotry and injustice and one of the most stirring speeches of the night. If you are raising a child, you should share this video with them. America could afford to have millions more Nick Sandmann.

• Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney General, showed up to make her case. The case that Biden is the swamp and an opportunist who has enriched himself and his family members over the last four decades in government. Bondi lists the specific alleged offenses and which family member is involved and ends with, “Joe says he will build back better,” Bondi says. “Yeah, build the Bidens back better.” Watch her speech here.
• Montage Video of women working for Trump.Those he has hired and elevated in the White House and government in their own words. An honest person could not watch the video and still claim Trump does not promote women or is not supportive of working women their children or families.
• Tiffany Trump, daughter, and recent Law school graduate was the surprise speech of the evening. She spoke to millennials’ fears and issues and came across knowledgeable, authentic, and relatable. “This election, I urge each and every one of you to transcend political boundaries. This is a fight for freedom versus oppression, for opportunity versus stagnation, a fight to keep America true to America,” she says. “I urge you to make your judgment based on results and not rhetoric.” Cutting through to the heart of the matter, she drags out the elephant in the room and says, “misinformation system keeps people mentally enslaved to the ideas they deem correct,” referring to establishment media and big tech. She speaks to bold policies the Trump administration has implemented and laws that have a huge impact on people’s lives. She, like her brothers, did a good job humanizing their father, Then admonishes Americans to stop allowing those to divide us and seek out both sides to a story or issue. This was also one of the best speeches this evening. It was a well crafted and delivered message. But will anyone outside Trump supporters hear it?

• Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds speaks about Trump’s rapid response to the natural disasters her state has suffered. She explained how Trump cut through the bureaucracy to help Iowa farmers and communities on several devastating events.” This is an administration of action and outcomes. They are delivering every day on their promise to make America great again,” she says. “And that’s exactly why we need to re-elect President Trump in November. Watch her speech here.
• Vice President Mike Pence introduces various people who have been helped by Trump’s support for policies as they share their personal paths.

America is the Land of OPPORTUNITY! #RNC2020 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/KIMDm5SKlF

— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) August 26, 2020

• Ryan Holets, a New Mexico police officer who adopted a child of a person struggling with drug addiction, shares his inspirational story. “Two worlds collided as I knelt down beside her, a police officer and a homeless drug addict–brought together by forces outside of our control. As we talked, our humanity, distinct from our stations in life, was made abundantly clear,” he says. “Her name was Crystal, and in the midst of her suffering, she confided that she loved her unborn baby. She wanted the best for her child. At that moment, I saw her the way that all of you who know or love an addict see them, as fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends. Human beings full of value and dignity but robbed of their potential by this disease.” Watch his speech here.
• Florida Lieutenant Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, daughter of Cuban immigrants. She shared the nightmare, which was her parent’s life in communist Cuba.” The government confiscated private property—stealing people’s homes, farms, and businesses,” she says. “For my parents, the difficult decision to flee Communist Cuba came when the Castro regime abolished religious freedom.”

  She says the “fabric of our nation is in peril” because the radical left is chiseling away “all the freedoms we cherish.” “They peddle dangerous ideologies, cower to global progressives, and normalize socialism to dismantle our Constitution,” she says. “Let me assure you, socialism doesn’t offer opportunity. Socialism deprives. It is a falsehood that feigns promises for its masses and consistently yields only misery.” Like Maximo Alvarez last evening, she gave a stern warning about the path she feels this country is on if we vote in the radical left, and socialism is just window dressing for authoritarianism. Watch her speech here.

• Video of Trump hosting a naturalization ceremony in the White House for five new citizens from five different countries (Bolivia, Lebanon, India, Sudan, and Ghana). Trump tells each new American they have earned the most priceless possession–American citizenship. He says it is an honor to be their President. Watch the video here.
• Eric Trump is a son, and trustee and executive vice president of the Trump Organization. He reminded all of how his father was dismissed leading up to the 2016 election, and supporters mocked. He championed the Silent Majority saying, “The politics of identity, cancellation, and mob rule are not acceptable to me, and Republicans trust you, the people, to think for yourselves and to pursue your American Dream; however you see fit.” Then he contrasted and compared Biden’s direction to his fathers. Like Tiffany, he humanized his father, and in a touching moment, he looked in the camera and told his father how proud he was of him, and to be his son. Watch his speech here.
• Opportunity for all Americans Video Montage.
• Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. There is no getting around what a GOP rising star this man is, and this speech certainly fast tracks his political advancement. There were so many lines with depth, but rather than spoil the viewing in advance, and I will give you just one. “Backwards, Joe Biden, I am not in chains!” Right Wire Report wishes every 8 yr old black child in America could watch this speech. For that matter, every 8 yr old child period.

• Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State address, was delivered from Jerusalem with the old city as a background. He touted the Foreign policy successes of the Trump Administration, including the recent historic peace deal between Israel and the UAE. The summary was impressive. Watch his speech here.
• First Lady Melania Trump was the keynote speaker and delivered her words standing in the newly renovated Rose Garden along the colonnade at the White House with approximately 75 in attendance. Full disclosure – This writer as an American has been enraged watching how the media and Democrats have ostracized and belittled Our First Lady over these years, so it was lovely watching the montage video played honoring her accomplishments before she spoke. Read more about those here. The setting was perfect just enough formality but also serene enough to settle her spirit as she poured it out to the county as a salve to start healing. The speech was, however, too long and needed a tad more construct at times but, none of that diminished the power and humanity of her message.

  The First Lady as mother, wife, daughter, historian, mentor, unifier, and visionary delivered a speech wrapped up in a warm summers night in a historical Garden that whispered the occupant’s lessons and heavy burdens that came before. This legacy was evident as she spoke to a divided nation suffering from a pandemic, civil unrest, and a world’s pace that feels crushing at times to us all. You could hear the maturity and balance she set forth to cradle all of American’s confused souls on this evening. Her plea to nurture and protect the world’s most vulnerable, the children, and support to parents was frankly Mary Poppins spoonful of sugar time that was sorely needed.

  As far as the phrase “when they go low, we go high”- Melania needs no platitudes or bromides to set the right tone. She delivered a sermon on the mount in regards to violence in our streets and enabling false narratives for political agendas and did so all while leaving those in need of the lesson with their dignity intact. She was authentic and credible and, her love and admiration for her husband, her family, and our country are undeniable. The campaign needs to expand the suburban female vote and, I do think any woman listening tonight with the capability to reason, and feel-was touched and moved. The C-Span callers said it best, here, here, here and here. America, listen to your hug and homework assignment:

President Donald Trump released his second-term agenda in advance, and many of the items were highlighted tonight – see here.

The four objectives for night two:

1. Religious faith and freedoms are of critical importance and serve to maintain a healthy republic for believers and non-believers. Absolute commitment to defend life and gone are the days of the Republican Party, making apologies for one’s faith or religious principles.
2. Women talking directly to women and impressing upon them Trump’s platform aligns with their needs and concerns. Female voices advocating that Trump is fair and cares about women issues Safety law and order, healthcare, education/school choice, income and employment, and no war. The Republican Party is a natural fit for women.
3. Small Business is the engine of our economy. Tax and regulation policy can enhance growth or crush it. Trump has a proven record on building a strong economy he did it once he will do it again – YOU can trust him on the pocketbook issues. The alternative will drastically change your economic picture.
4. Trump loves our country and its citizens and is not anti-immigrant. But American citizen’s prosperity and safety are before that of those who do not follow our laws and reside in our country illegally. All policy objectives must adhere to that above principle if we are to be a sovereign, safe, and prosperous nation. Espousing that principle does not make you racist or a bigot. Law and order is justice for all.

So far, one thing keeps bubbling to the surface – this is not your Daddy’s Republican Party anymore. The Country Club, Corporate lobbyist, CEOs, Hollywood elites, Big Tech were off the stage the last two nights and, star billing was the Red White and Blue Jane and Joe American.

We will be doing a summary on each consecutive night remaining, so check back. Like night one’s brief, we will ask again for you to engage in an intellectual exercise that will be both enlightening and affirming as well as depressing. Take 15 minutes of your day and google headlines after each night, and compare and contrast, to Democrat convention headlines. Truly, eye-opening.

First Lady Melania Trump was the keynote speaker and delivered her words standing in the newly renovated Rose Garden at the White House with approximately 75 in attendance. Her outreach to woman voters was one of my favorite uplifting moments of first lady’s forward-looking “Be Best” campaign

The two nights was a resume.

Support Conservative Daily News with a small donation via Paypal or credit card that will go towards supporting the news and commentary you've come to appreciate.