Day 3 Of The Republican National Convention: Hits & Misses
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- On Friday night in Cleveland, Donald Trump will officially accept the Republican nomination for President of the United States.
Trump walked through the convention center this morning ahead of his big speech. He's expected to call for Republican unity after a turbulent convention week.
Pat Kessler has a recap of what went right and what went wrong for Republicans last night at the Quicken Loans Arena.
Miss: Ted Cruz
These conventions are very tightly scripted. Trump rival Ted Cruz got a speaking role, and he refused to endorse Donald Trump. In fact, he told Republicans to "vote their conscience."
And as that began to slowly sink in.... delegates got to booing. The boos got louder and louder, especially from Donald Trump's home-state New York delegation sitting directly in front. Cruz stood there and took it all in.
As the unrest grew, Donald Trump suddenly appeared high above the convention floor, and the booing turned to cheering. A tense few minutes that were the impact moment of the night.
Hit: Mike Pence
Most people won't remember, but something else happened last night that would otherwise be capturing the news attention: Indiana Governor Mike Pence accepted the Republican nomination to be Donald Trump's Vice president.
Pence delivered a warm, but low-key, acceptance speech suggesting he is the boring half of the Trump-Pence ticket. The speech was well-received by the crowd, who chanted "We Like Mike!" at several parts of the speech -- an obvious reference to successful Republican presidential campaign decades ago.
On Thursday night, we'll watch history being made. Donald Trump will claim the nomination after the most improbable, flamboyant, and divisive political campaign in modern times. But will the party really unite? That could hinge on the humility and composure of his acceptance speech.