Commentary: Donald Trump's big speech works out
CLEVELAND -- That was a successful speech by Donald Trump, accepting the nomination in Cleveland. It was overlong and his ability to speak off a teleprompter needs improvement. But it was well-crafted and it hit the notes he needed to hit.
Trump has gotten better at the teleprompter, though his struggles with it often make you wonder whether if he has some kind of learning disability. If he does, more power to him, because he can say that he's gone this far. He's a bit like George W. Bush in that way: despite his family connections, it's still easy to see he had significant obstacles to overcome.
Those struggles, in a weird way, were the theme of this whole convention. If you knew nothing about Trump and his peculiar personal history before the past week you'd think he was a self-made man. In some instances he is, but his father's power in New York politics and a generous reading of local tax codes helped pave his rise.
But Trump, unlike so many rich politicians, doesn't obscure the fact that he knows the system is corrupt because he's participated in its corruption. Mike Bloomberg, the mayor who really transformed New York, always ran as a guy who was incorruptible because he was the richest guy in the city -- nobody could buy him, he was too rich to be bought. Trump, at times, makes this point as well but the money he has is usually framed in a fashion more reminiscent of Franklin Roosevelt. Like FDR, he likes the idea of being seen as a traitor to his class.
But the speech was too long. He kept going and going. The critic Clive James once joked that Fidel Castro's leftist apologists would say that his famously outstretched speeches were endlessly entertaining, when in fact they were just endless. The Trump delegates returning home to their hotels early Friday morning struck a similar note: it was so good, he said what we wanted to hear, but couldn't have been shorter?
Well, yes. I wonder how the swing voters watching it on TV responded, or whether they watched the whole thing. The last night of a political convention is typically the one undecided Americans tune in to. How many of them watched to the finish? We don't know yet, but the viewership ratings this convention have been disappointing for media outlets generally, particularly among the most coveted demographics.
A lot will be made about what a bummer the whole speech was. It was depressing, there was little uplift, he only talked about how nothing worked. Generally, in politics, optimism is a virtue. Next week we'll see a Democratic convention that promises change for people who are generally OK with the status quo. Lukewarm progressivism will be on full display. Those who've been happy with the last seven or so years will likely be happy with it.
Meanwhile, Americans who feel that they've been on the losing end of this century will probably find Trump's gloominess appealing. Trump understands how to manipulate people emotionally. He gets that enough Americans feel that their country is getting more violent, more disjointed, more racially Balkanized, even if statistics don't yet support that. He gets that nobody cares what Vox.com thinks of his speech.
The strange feeling you get everywhere in northeast Ohio, a Democratic stronghold, is that few people really like Trump and that plenty of people here will vote for him. That may mean nothing come November, but it's sure hard not to notice right now.
