Opinion: One crazy week in presidential politics, and November is months away
Good morning. I’m Kerry Cavanaugh, and it is Saturday, July 20. Here’s what’s happening in Opinion.
I’m writing this newsletter on Friday, and I have a feeling it may be outdated by the time you read it. That’s how tumultuous the past week has been in presidential politics and opinion-making.
It began with the assassination attempt of Donald Trump last Saturday. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Trump on Monday — the day the Republican National Convention kicked off with Trump’s unconventional vice presidential pick of Ohio freshman Sen. J.D. Vance. On Wednesday, President Biden exited the campaign trail after a positive COVID-19 test while an increasing number of Democrats called on him to drop his reelection bid. And then Trump, ear still bandaged from the shooting, took the stage for his third nomination acceptance speech — whew! And we’re still four months from November.
At least one of the more intriguing questions about the race was answered Thursday night.
Throughout the week, Trump allies and political pundits wondered whether a more introspective, softened and unifying Trump would emerge after his near-death experience. Political commentator and former George W. Bush aide Scott Jennings wrote that in Trump’s convention address Thursday night, “he could deliver a speech that leaves his opponent to history and begins to shake this country free from the grip of disunity that has paralyzed us for too long. Will he?”
Nope. After some initial words calling for unity, Trump went on to give a rambling 92-minute speech that included his oft-repeated falsehoods — such as Democrats “used COVID to cheat” in the election — his smearing of immigrants and bombastic campaign pledges — “I will end every single international crisis.” So, no, there will not be a kinder, gentler Trump.
Musk and the GOP like to trash California. But they couldn’t get by without us. The Republican National Convention had plenty of speakers bash the state and its liberal-leaning policies, including business tycoons who made their wealth here, says The Times’ editorial board. “But here’s a question for Musk, Trump and other GOP politicians and supporters who love to rag on our state: If California is so terrible, why can’t you bring yourself to actually kiss it goodbye?”
J.D. Vance’s book ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ was a con job. Don’t let it slide. Many journalists and book critics venerated Vance as a powerful voice representing long-overlooked Americans and they chose to inaccurately “depict the working class as angry, uneducated white men driven by economic insecurity and racist nostalgia to support Trump’s retrogressive campaign,” says writer and critic Lorraine Berry. “The news media must not fail the working class again.”
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Too many Americans support political violence. It’s up to the rest of us to dissuade them. The great majority of Americans must speak out more, declaring to family and friends, on social media and to elected leaders, that political violence is unacceptable, writes Garen Wintemute, director of the California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis. “Those of us who reject political violence aren’t mere observers of a national train wreck. We are on the train. Will we do everything we can to apply the brakes?”
More from opinion
From our columnists
- Robin Abcarian: Don’t let political rhetoric distract you from this truth about the Trump shooting
From guest contributors
- The GOP’s bait and switch on abortion
- Shannen Doherty was painted as a bad-girl ‘Veronica’ stereotype. She deserved better
- Despite noble intentions, California’s environmental law is hurting Latinos
From the Editorial Board
- Mayor Bass vetoed a police discipline ballot measure. Now she has to help create a new one
- They changed the wording in party platform, but the GOP still wants to ban abortion
Letters to the Editor
- Attacking the Anti-Defamation League misses the reality of antisemitism
- Our reactions to images of the Trump shooting say a lot about us
- Adam Schiff wants President Biden to drop out of the race. What about voters?
Stay in touch.
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As always, you can share your feedback by emailing me at paul.thornton@latimes.com.
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