* As Louis Nelson documents, we’re seeing more of the same from the Trump campaign as the Republican Convention gets underway in Cleveland. Apparently Gingrich attacked Mitt Romney and the Bush’s, Paul Manafort (Trump’s campaign manager) went after Gov. John Kasich, and Paul Ryan didn’t even mention Trump in his remarks to Wisconsin delegates. In addition, this seemed like an unnecessary swipe at the Republican delegation from the host state.
The convention’s Committee on Arrangements announced Saturday the seating of 56 state and territorial delegations at Quicken Loans Arena.
Looking toward the stage, the Ohio Republican delegates will sit on the right side of the stage, behind the Pennsylvania delegation. They will have a view of the speaker’s left side.
The delegation from the Buckeye state in 2008 was center stage, front row and center stage in 2012 behind only Michigan.
* If you’re like me, by now you might feel like you know everything you ever cared to know about Donald Trump. But his ghostwriter for the book “The Art of the Deal,” Tony Schwartz, shared some interesting insights with Jane Mayer.
Schwartz thought that “The Art of the Deal” would be an easy project….For research, he planned to interview Trump on a series of Saturday mornings…. But the discussion was soon hobbled by what Schwartz regards as one of Trump’s most essential characteristics: “He has no attention span.”
….“Trump has been written about a thousand ways from Sunday, but this fundamental aspect of who he is doesn’t seem to be fully understood,” Schwartz told me. “It’s implicit in a lot of what people write, but it’s never explicit—or, at least, I haven’t seen it.1 And that is that it’s impossible to keep him focussed on any topic, other than his own self-aggrandizement, for more than a few minutes, and even then . . . ” Schwartz trailed off, shaking his head in amazement…
This year, Schwartz has heard some argue that there must be a more thoughtful and nuanced version of Donald Trump that he is keeping in reserve for after the campaign. “There isn’t,” Schwartz insists. “There is no private Trump.”…
“Lying is second nature to him,” Schwartz said. “More than anyone else I have ever met, Trump has the ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true.”
We all know that there are people like Trump in the world. What is noteworthy is that around 40% of voters think a guy like that is fit to be president. That’s mind-blowing!
* Mike Pence isn’t the only one displaying the symptoms of Carly Simon Syndrome. Enter Sen. John McCain…
As far as the tragedy in France is concerned, obviously this is an act of mayhem and despicable,” the Arizona senator told KTAR’s 92.3FM’s Bruce St. James and Pamela Hughes on Friday. “I also have to tell you — our prayers are with the families, obviously, and the French people — but I also have to tell you, that as long as we have a leadership in this country — the president of the United States — who allowed this to happen, his policies are directly responsible for ISIS and ISIS is responsible for these attacks.”
* The theme for tonight at the Republican Convention is “Make America Safe Again” – with a heavy emphasis on Benghazi. Here is the list of speakers:
Willie Robertson, CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, star of Duck Dynasty
Governor Rick Perry, Former Governor of Texas
Marcus Luttrell, U.S. Navy SEAL
Scott Baio, Actor and Television Producer
Pat Smith, Mother of Benghazi victim, Sean Smith
Mark Geist, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Fought in Battle of Benghazi
John Tiegen, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Fought in Battle of Benghazi
Kent Terry and Kelly Terry-Willis, The Brian Terry Foundation
Antonio Sabato, Jr., Actor
Mary Ann Mendoza, Immigration Reform Advocate
Sabine Durden, Immigration Reform Advocate
Jamiel Shaw, Immigration Reform Advocate
U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (TX-10)
David Clarke, Sheriff of Milwaukee County
U.S. Representative Sean Duffy (WI-7)
Darryl Glenn, El Paso County Commissioner
U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas)
Karen Vaughn, Mother of fallen U.S. Navy SEAL
U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama)
Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York City
Melania Trump, Businesswoman and Wife of Donald Trump
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, U.S. Army (ret.)
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
Jason Beardsley, CEO of The Underground Movement
U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke (MT)
Here’s a proposal for your betting pool: Which one of those is most likely to give us the notable equivalent of Clint Eastwood’s empty chair speech?
* Finally, a couple of months ago this LBJ campaign video of a Republican denouncing the candidacy of Barry Goldwater surfaced because it was so prescient in describing the way a lot of people felt about the current Republican presumptive nominee. The Clinton campaign has done a re-make.
