DID HILLARY DO WHAT SHE NEEDED TO IN HER SPEECH?

Khizr Khan captured the hearts of listeners as well as the
spotlight out of other speakers at the DNC,
photo courtesy of Slate.com

Although the Democrats had an overall better convention (in my opinion, as well as others) the night of Hillary Clinton's speech was a different story. According to Nielsen data, the Democratic convention had more viewers during the entirety of the week with the exception of Thursday when Clinton spoke this week and Donald Trump spoke week.

According to NJ.com, there were multiple 'political pros' that they interviewed about Clinton's speech; all of the political experts featured in the article shared similar conclusions such as this was Clinton's best speech probably ever. Although she didn't "wow!" anybody like Barack Obama or Michelle Obama can with their speech abilities, she did humanize herself and rebuild a sense of trustworthiness and (probably most importantly) she strategically attacked Trump and did well at luring undecided voters as well as 'Never-Trump' Republicans - these are the voters she will need for a decisive victory in November.

Furthermore, the Washington Post conducted a fact-check of Clinton's acceptance speech: there were very few statements featured in the article, especially compared to Trump's acceptance speech last week. In most cases in the article she had simply cherry-picked data or looked at data out of context.

Something probably few expected is that the most-talked about speaker in the media so far was Khizr Khan, the father of an American Muslim Army captain that was killed in Iraq in 2006. Khan asked some serious questions to Donald Trump during his speech such as: "Let me ask you, have you even read the Constitution," eventually heightening his 'interrogation' asking, "Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? To look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America?...You have sacrificed nothing!"

Of course no inspirational and truly thought-provoking speech is complete in America nowadays without an incredibly offensive statement to be broadcasted in response as Ann Coulter took to Twitter tweeting: "You know what this convention really needed? An angry Muslim with a thick accent like Fareed Zacaria."

If you want to get that bad taste out of your mouth just from reading that then check out this video of Jon Stewart taking over Colbert's late show this past week to do what he's always done best: blast Fox News and hateful Republicans.

And for fans of Stephen Colbert, although his late show has not been doing as well as many may have hoped, the RNC and DNC have offered Colbert's show new life with Jon Stewart's segment as well as an appearance from Elizabeth Warren whom many deem as the person to most easily incite Trump. As a long-time fan of Colbert I hope he can continue to breathe a little bit of his 'Comedy Central Colbert persona' into his more serious late show as I feel, and the views seem to evidence, he is much more effective when he does put his traditional comedic twist onto serious issues.

I think Matt Wilstein at The Daily Beast summed it up just as well as I could: "More than the ignorant, America-obsessed conservative pundit, this was the Stephen Colbert that we truly missed. The man who is willing to take big swings in the name of comedy and refuses to toe the line for the sake of being liked."

Although the RNC and DNC have officially wrapped up and coverage of both will begin to wane from the headlines I will be posting a final edition of my media analysis comparing the coverage of the police and security threats in Cleveland during the 2016 RNC with the coverage of the police and security threats in Chicago in 1968, as well as (most likely) the same coverage surrounding the 2000 RNC in Philadelphia.

References

Brodesser-Akner, Claude. (2016) What political pros thought of Clinton's historic DNC 2016 speech. NJ.com. Retrieved from http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/07/what_the_pros_thought_of_clintons_historic_dnc_spe.html.

Frostenson, Sarah. (2016) Hillary Clinton's convention had higher ratings than Trump's - except for the one night it mattered most. Vox. Retrieved from http://www.vox.com/2016/7/29/12324800/trump-big-ratings-convention-speech-beat-hillary-clinton/in/11938179.

Kessler, Glenn and Michelle Ye Hee Lee. (2016) Fact-checking Hillary Clinton's acceptance speech at the 2016 DNC. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/07/29/fact-checking-hillary-clintons-acceptance-speech-at-the-2016-dnc/.

Nelson, Libby. (2016) The DNC's most powerful anti-Trump message came from the father of a fallen Muslim soldier. Vox. Retrieved from http://www.vox.com/2016/7/28/12319658/democratic-convention-khizr-khan.

Wilstein, Matt. (2016) How Stephen Colbert got his groove back at RNC and DNC 2016. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/29/how-stephen-colbert-got-his-groove-back-at-rnc-and-dnc-2016.html.

THE 2016 PARTY CONVENTIONS COME TO AN END AFTER A LONG TWO WEEKS

Clinton is joined by her running mate Tim Kaine on stage
as the balloons drop on the Democratic convention,
photo courtesy of NBCPhiladelphia.com

The Democratic National Convention came to a close last night as Hillary Clinton made history when she became the first woman presidential nominee for a major political party in the United States.

The week began with multiple variables working against the Democratic Party; the first being the heat wave that hit Philadelphia which many feared would cause tension and hostility among protesters and police to increase, especially after the riots during the 2000 RNC in Philadelphia. Additionally, Team Hillary and the Democrats were still confronting the aggressive campaign the Republicans had employed against Hillary and the Democrats last week including the sound bite: "Lock her [Hillary] up!"

Aside from outside forces, the Democratic Party had to deal with the DWS email scandal that pissed a lot of Sander's supporters off and gave Republicans more ammunition to shoot off about the lack of trustworthiness in the Democratic Party.

Despite of all of these obstacles Team Hillary and the Democratic Party pulled off a very positive convention for the image of the party and Clinton herself. Ron Elving of NPR observed that, "In fact, much of the program on stage this week in Philly was clearly meant to appeal to disaffected Republicans left feeling a chill last week in Cleveland. A basic element of this appeal was the robust embrace of traditional patriotism, its rhetoric and symbols."

Examples of this tactic were evident with speakers like retired Marine Gen. John Allen, longtime Republican operative Rick Galen tweeting that the Democrat's convention looked more like his traditional party than anything he saw in Cleveland last week, longtime GOP strategist Stuart Stevens tweeting that the Democrat's convention looked more like the 2004 RNC (the last time the Republicans won the presidency) than the RNC held in Cleveland last week, in addition to many other Republicans that shared similar sentiments.

Despite the success of the DNC, Politico reported that according to Nielsen data the final night of the DNC drew in 28 million viewers, while the final night of the RNC last week received 30 million viewers - people seem to feel the need to watch Donald Trump live.

However it was not only the speech itself that journalists were paying attention to last night: the New York Times reported the significance of the clothing choices that Hillary made last night. As Vanessa Friedman puts it, "In her white suit, with her white crew neck underneath, Mrs. Clinton looked extremely unflappable: perfectly tailored and in control. Not a hair out of place (but some hair nicely waived). The kind of person who could carry the nuclear codes with aplomb."

This quote truly does sum up the aesthetic statement that Clinton intended on making - the white suit representing the official color of the National Women's Party and the suffragist movement amplified her message of a strong woman leader. Fun fact: Clinton is not the first female candidate running for a high-position office to utilize the 'white suit statement'; Geraldine Ferraro sported a similar outfit during the 1984 Democratic convention when she accepted her nomination for vice president.

The Washington Post published an article analyzing the winners and losers of the last night of the convention. Winners included Khizer Khan, the father of an Army captain who was killed in Iraq in 2004, Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton (although I'm not sure I agree, I did not feel the sincerity in her statements humanizing her mother), and Emanuel Cleaver, the passionate Missouri congressman that preached Mrs. Clinton "wouldn't stay throwed!"

Overall I think the Democrats leaving Philadelphia today will be very happy with the way the convention turned out: Hillary finished the convention with a strong moment, Bernie supporters did not cause a major problem, and there were very few mistakes made throughout the week that would have taken focus away from the convention itself.

References
Cillizza, Chris. (2016) Winners and losers from the final night of the Democratic convention. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/28/winners-and-losers-from-the-final-night-of-the-democratic-convention/.
Elving, Ron. (2016) Hillary Clinton and the DNC: a crisis not merely survived, but transcended. National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2016/07/29/487889370/clinton-makes-history-clearing-multiple-hurdles-at-philly-convention.
Friedman, Vanessa. (2016) Hillary Clinton makes history, and wears it, too. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/fashion/hillary-clinton-democratic-national-convention.html.
Weprin, Alex. (2016) TV ratings: 28 million watch final night of DNC. Politico. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/07/tv-ratings-dnc-hillary-clinton-226441.

MELANIA SCANDAL EPITOMIZES THE PROBLEMS WITH TRUMP CAMPAIGN

Melania Trump was accused of plagiarizing parts of her
convention speech from Michelle Obama's 2008 speech
at the Democratic national convention,
photo courtesy of CNN.com

Of the many questions asked last week after Melania Trump gave a speech that included plagiarized portions of a speech Michelle Obama gave in 2008, the most fundamental was: why did this "scandal" last for as long as it did? Is it new for politicians or public speakers to draw inspiration, or reiterate sections of somebody else's words? Absolutely not; so what made this small mistake so prominent?

Well, the main reason is that the Trump campaign did NOTHING to try and rectify the situation, nor did anybody other than a background 'ghost-writer' come forward to take responsibility for the speech despite the fact that Melania had insisted days earlier that she had written the entire speech herself.

One might ask, why was Melania Trump writing her own speech for such a momentous event in the campaign? Melania originally did have a speech written for her by Matthew Scully and John McConnell, two proficient speechwriters that have written signature political speeches such as George W. Bush's speech to the nation on Sept. 11, 2001.

Instead the Trump campaign decided to take it upon themselves to write a speech that, rather than disappearing from news hours after it's completion, lingered in the media for days - perfectly embodying the Trump campaign's eagerness to decide and act based on instinct rather than sound, professional campaign advice from competent agents like Scully and McConnell. At an even more fundamental level, the decision to not use a plagiarism-detection software reveals the lack of competence and understanding of the political system.

Not only that, but the decision to go on the defensive rather than 'saving tail' further lingered this scandal from blowing over. While Trump's campaign team relentlessly defended the seemingly small amount of plagiarized words, compared to Obama's similar scandal in 2008 reveals how addressing the situation directly and not dodging responsibility allow for the perpetrator to save their image and quiet the controversy.

Rather than denying that the lifted words were significant or his intentions were wrong, Obama in 2008 owned up to the fact that Deval Patrick was a major influence on his beliefs at that time and that he was an inspired by Patrick, but that he should have made sure to give Patrick credit.

Even the DWS email scandal this week passed over relatively quickly with Donald Trump himself trying to keep it in headlines.

Sorry Donald, but when public relations is handled properly and professionally the blowback is very minimal; however, when an egotistic Washington "outsider" attempts to handle public relations without the proper team a small, nothing of a story turns into a media spectacle that both takes away from the focus Republicans wanted spotlighted with this convention as well as epitomizes the Trump campaign's unwillingness to consult and advise with informed and qualified political insiders.

References
Barbaro, Michael & Maggie Haberman. (2016) How Melania Trump's speech veered off course and caused uproar. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/us/politics/melania-trump-convention-speech.html.
Martin, Jonathon & Alan Rappeport. (2016) Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign D.N.C. post. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/us/politics/19campaign.html.
Zeleny, Jeff. (2016) Clinton camp says Obama plagiarized in speech. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/debbie-wasserman-schultz-dnc-wikileaks-emails.html.

WHY CLEVELAND FOR THE 2016 RNC?

Thousands of "Welcome" banners were displayed throughout
the city of Cleveland; this particular banner waved at
the entrance of Quicken Loans Arena (the convention arena),
photo courtesy of clevescene.com

Yesterday we learned a ton of background insight into why, and how, Cleveland was picked for the 2016 Republican National Convention. Our guest speaker Diane Downing, a Huntington bank executive and Chief Operating Officer for the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee, described the process that began back in 2012 that brought the national spotlight to Cleveland this year.

Something some Cleveland'ers might not realize is that Cleveland had actually put a bid on the 2012 RNC that ultimately took place in Tampa Bay, Florida. (The rest of this article will not be my opinion or thoughts but rather based on Dianne's lecture and experiences:) The main reason that Cleveland did not get the 2012 bid for the convention is that the city simply did not have the facilities or hotels to handle the needs of the convention; about 50,000 visitors (including 15,000 members of the media) come to a city during a convention so multiple improvements and expansions allowed for Cleveland to be on track for a 2016 bid.

For the 2016 conventions the city of Cleveland actually placed bids on both the RNC and the DNC, ultimately withdrawing the DNC bid after becoming a finalist city for the RNC. According to Downing Chris Connor and John Penny, among others, traveled through a snowstorm that most other prospective city representatives did not and really finalized Cleveland as the decided host city.

Before the decision was finalized RNC location selection members came to check out Cleveland twice to plan further expansion and after Cleveland was officially named the host city of the 2016 RNC (before LeBron decided to return to Cleveland I might add).

After Cleveland was officially chosen the city agreed to some stipulations that the RNC expects of the host city: the city pays $64 million, hotel rooms are provided for visitors, venues are provided for events, providing a main venue for the convention itself as well as the members of the press, as well as finding and scheduling about 8,000 volunteers - although only about 3,500 volunteers ended up working the RNC, with the volunteers taking on multiple shifts.

According to Downing, Cleveland relished at the opportunity to showcase the city, as well as Northeast Ohio, as more than just a 'Rust Belt' city and area; what better way to put not only the national, but international spotlight, on our city.

While there were concerns over security and safety with the volatile tensions between police and citizens as well as the divisive rhetoric and tone that accompanies Trump and his campaign, the police were not only readily trained in basic police tactics but also very attune to community policing allowing for unhindered free speech without triggering violence. Furthermore, the federal government felt there was a perceived national security threat, and supplied $50 million in gear and resources for police throughout the week.

Thanks to the incredible work of the police officers and the people that planned and organized the convention the peaceful week featured only 23 arrests throughout the entire week, while at the DNC in Philadelphia there were 50 arrests on the first day.

Economically, many in the Cleveland area expected a boost in the local economy similar to the $200 million bump Tampa received in 2012 - leading many to unrealistic expectations. Cleveland did not seem to get that same economic boost this year, according to Cleveland.com.

While, according to Downing, Cleveland's host committee did indeed raise the most money in Republican convention history, the city did not receive the traditional $20 million aid from the Republican Party to help fund the convention; not only that, but Downing hinted that there were some usual sponsors that did not participate in this year's Republican convention but most likely would be sponsoring the Democratic convention.

So Cleveland: I know that the convention may not have been everything we might have expected economically short-term, but the long-term effects of this convention will be that Cleveland has improved it's national and international image, fueling Cleveland's rising economy and culture.

DEMOCRATS FACE ANOTHER EMAIL SCANDAL

Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned in the wake of
the email hack on DNC party insiders,
photo courtesy of the guardian.com

Well...if the Democrats hoped for a scandal-less convention that dream ended very early into the week: a hack of emails exchanged between Democratic National Committee members suggested that there was an attempt to try and undermine Bernie Sanders as a legitimate candidate, going as far as plans to attack his personal beliefs.

Bernie Sanders being the true team-player that he has been during this campaign attempted to address some of his most loyal supporters but had a reverse anti-Cruz moment in which he was boo'ed for trying to endorse and support the candidate that defeated him in the primaries: Hillary Clinton.

Despite this division between Sanders' supporters and Clinton, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former chair of the DNC that resigned due to her involvement in the email scandal, was "picked up" by Clinton's campaign team - a move that I can only imagine will only further agitate angry Sanders' supporters.

Unfortunately for the Democratic Party this scandal was unraveling as polling data came in revealing that Donald Trump is leading in the national average poll. It's becoming an even more (scarily) realistic possibility that Trump may defeat Clinton in November; the main reasoning I have for this thinking is that it seems as though absolutely nothing can hurt Trump's image at this point.

After former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes resigned following a sexual harassment scandal Donald Trump defended him and his reputation, going as far to say that he would "think about" having Ailes join his campaign team.

WOW has it been a busy week and a half, with still another pivotal half of the convention left for the Democratic Party.

References
Kopan, Tal. (2016) The DNC email scandal explained. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/25/politics/dnc-email-scandal-explained/.
Los Angeles Times staff. (2016) Watch Bernie Sanders tells supporters from boos: 'We have got to elect Hillary Clinton'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-democratic-convention-2016-live-watch-live-as-bernie-sanders-addresses-1469467745-htmlstory.html.
Media Matters staff. (2016) Washington Post reports 25 women have come forward to accuse former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to work on campaign. Media Matters. Retrieved from http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/07/22/washington-post-reports-25-women-have-come-forward-accuse-former-fox-ceo-ailes-harassment/211847.
Media Matters staff. (2016) Trump says he "would thnik about" hiring disgraced former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to work on campaign. Media Matters. Retrieved from https://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/07/26/trump-says-he-would-think-about-hiring-disgraced-former-fox-news-ceo-roger-ailes-work-campaign/211915.
Morton, Victor. (2016) Debbie Wasserman Schultz immediately joins Clinton campaign after resignation. Washington Times. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/24/debbie-wasserman-schultz-immediately-joins-hillary/.

(Trump's polling trends, real clear politics - Melania's speech)

CLEVELAND IMPRESSED THE NATION THIS WEEK

The beautiful city of Cleveland,
photo courtesy of flickr.com

What a great week for the national image and perspective of Cleveland! The city made an absolutely fantastic impression on the people that came from out of town.

Although there were many benefits to the convention being hosted in Cleveland, there were also downsides; according to John Petkovic at the Plain Dealer, many of the bars and restaurants further away from East 4th Street (one of the most active areas in Cleveland) had little to no business despite the projections for increased crowds. In some circumstances businesses actually did worse this week in business than during any other week of the year.

The most impressive aspect of the city hosting the convention was the huge variety of police and security officers from all around the country coming together to make the RNC run as smoothly and safely as possible. With tensions between the public and the police at a very volatile point I think the police handled situations very controlled and professionally. I retweeted a lot of videos from downtown throughout the week featuring positive encounters between police and the public @ChenkusNews.

One of the craziest events I got to see from a unique perspective was when Donald Trump arrived for the first time in Cleveland: my father works in the fourth tallest building in Cleveland and his boss captured a video of Trump's plane arriving at the private landing strip along Lake Erie.

What made Trump's entrance so, well, Trump? Along the entire coast line there were coast guard boats lining the entire view while no other boats could be found out on the water; after getting off the plane Trump's transportation team [of what looked like somewhere around fifteen cars] led Trump through a route that had police lined along the entire street route. My father said the only time he's ever seen that level of security control for an individual was when Barack Obama flew in while as president - so what would Trump's entrance look like if HE were president during his next trip??

References
Petkovic, John. (2016) RNC 2016: Downtown bar scene is a ghost town. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/rnc-2016/index.ssf/2016/07/rnc_2016_downtown_bar_scene_is.html.

TRUMP ACCEPTS THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Donald J. Trump accepts the Republican presidential nomination
 Thursday night in Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena,
photo courtesy of businessinsider.com

I found this video on YouTube today that I think is definitely worth a watch. In this video Louis C.K. is being interviewed by Charlie Rose about his remarks calling Trump "Hitler" as well as insisting that he is dangerous to our political system. I think Louis' very articulate in expressing his perspective so I would suggest checking out that interview, here (7:30-9:42).

In my opinion this convention has epitomized Louis C.K.'s statements: this convention seems unconventional (although this is the first convention I was able to experience personally) and Trump's entrances have been so spectacular and expensive (helicopter landings, maximum transportation security, flights from New York every day). And this speech was no different, as he basked in his chants for minutes as well as beginning some chants before officially speaking; "But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else."

Unfortunately for Trump, multiple media organizations analyzed his speech to fact-check and it was far from absent of lies. The New York Times, Fact Check, the Washington Post and PolitiFact among many, many others analyzed many of his statements and promises and found that he either distorted the truth, manipulated statistics or flat out lied.

Although the country may be at a volatile point in it's history, the ominous and grim picture that Donald Trump painted of America should be understood as HIS perspective of the country; a perspective that is, in my opinion, cynically twisted.

As the convention wrapped up, national polls from Real Clear Politics showed Trump holding an average of 41.3% while Hillary Clinton lead with an average of 44%. It is important to remember that historically conventions provide a boost for the hosting party's candidate in polling, so I would be willing to guess that the gap between the two will expand after the DNC next week in Philadelphia.

I'd like to wrap up this day's entry by saying: "wooooow!" to Ted Cruz. I retweeted some of the more interesting stories and perspectives on his decision to not endorse Trump on my Twitter @ChenkusNews but it will be fascinating to see how this decision unfolds for Ted Cruz as he approaches re-election for Senate as well as his speculative bid for president in 2020.

In my opinion I think as ballsy as that speech was for Ted Cruz he genuinely imagined a 'Ronald Reagan in 1980' scenario and Cruz's speech did not connect in that way; for somebody as disliked as Cruz, I think he may have just committed political suicide.

References
Corasaniti, Nick and Michael Shear. (2016) Fact-checking the truth that Trump promised. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/us/politics/donald-trump-fact-check.html
Robertson, Lori. (2016) Factchecking Trump's big speech. FactCheck.org. Retrieved from http://www.factcheck.org/2016/07/factchecking-trumps-big-speech/
Kessler, Glenn and Michelle Ye Hee Lee. (2016) Fact-checking Donald Trump's acceptance speech at the 2016 RNC convention. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/07/22/fact-checking-donald-trumps-acceptance-speech-at-the-2016-rnc/
Graves, Allison and Neelesh Moorthy. (2016) Fact-checking Donald Trump on the final night of the Republican convention. PolitiFact. Retrieve from http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/jul/21/fact-checking-final-night-rncincle/

THE STREETS OF CLEVELAND ARE HEATED, LITERALLY!

As opposed to yesterday, which was a much calmer atmosphere, today had some heated confrontations in the streets of Cleveland. 

I was, not unfortunately but, unfortunately attending a pro-life luncheon at which Gov. Rick Perry spoke at and I was not able to be in the streets for much of what I was viewing through Twitter and Snapchat. 

The first major event I read/saw was the "Wall Off Trump" Movement, which was reportedly funded with $15,000 via a campaign on Indiegogo. The protesters formed a human wall with banners reading, "Wall Off Trump", among others. My fellow classmate Carlos Cruz captured some amazing clips of the protest on his Twitter account, @vivacarlitos_ so check his Twitter feed for in-depth coverage of that event.

After leaving the luncheon, driving back to the flats to transcribe a couple interviews, and finally walking back into the city I was able to catch the tail end of the protest where two flags were burned in the middle of the street at the intersection of East 4th Street and Prospect Avenue. 

As I approached the intersection a march of protesters representing the REVCOM, also known as the Revolutionary Communist Party, were walking directly towards me, blocking off the entire street. After shuffling my way through the massive crowd, I immediately saw a block of police blocking off all corners of the street where the flags had been burned. 

To get to the 'crime' scene it required me talking to two different police officers to have to cut through an alley to connect over to East 4th Street from the other side. The scene of the flag burning looked back to normal, aside from the police tape, although you could tell that the police had a sense of urgency and tension in their movements. 

As I went to walk to Public Square, I walked past an encounter between an anti-military activist and a very pro-military supporter; words were exchanged, but things did not get too heated. When I finally made it to Public Square, I almost immediately regretted it as I instantly heard, over the mega-phone, what I can only imagine were members of the Westboro Baptist Church as their language was unbearably hateful and inciteful. 

It truly was an eye-opening experience, as you hear about all of this hate and racism in this country but to hear it being so casually preached made me sick to my stomach - it genuinely made me miss my experience Monday with the Nuns on the Bus and their positivity. 

I genuinely hope that this hate and division are not the future of our country but with a presidential candidate that lives off of those choke holds, I guess you really do have to hold hope with some hesitance. 

Below are some of the videos from today's events that I was able to capture, aside from these videos I also have been covering the convention from a religious perspective following PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly so if you would like to see my coverage on that my Twitter address is @ChenkusNews.

References
Sexton, John. (2016) Protesters attempt to 'wall off Trump' at convention. Hot Air. Retrieved from http://hotair.com/archives/2016/07/20/protesters-attempt-to-wall-off-trump-at-convention/.

AND SO IT BEGINS...

The Nuns on the Bus campaign team,
photo courtesy of aflcionc.org

It was my first day in Cleveland since the convention has started and it was pretty crazy to see so many streets being shut down, the incredible amount of security service and police offers, many streets being taken over by media organizations, etc. I've lived in the Cleveland area for 19 of my 20 years on this Earth and it truly is home to me; it was amazing to see my hometown being transformed into the location of what might go down as one of the most famous (or infamous) conventions in United States history.

For the week I will be interning with PBS' "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly" mainly shadowing Lauren Tally and Kim Lawton. This was my first true experience of the "behind the scenes" aspect of journalism and it reaffirmed the reason why I chose journalism: spreading a message of cooperation and unity against the evils of this world.

My first day at the convention was spent greeting and following around the NETWORK's Nuns on the Bus campaign, which consists of a 21-city campaign preaching the message of unity and community. You would never expect that this was their ninth city in just one week with the energy that they walked off of the bus with, radiating positivity as they walked to the United Church of Christ HQ to gather and plan the day's activities.

Today's plan was to walk around the downtown streets, passing out lemonade and spreading their message to anybody and everybody they possibly could. Before leaving for the day, however, Sister Simone Campbell delivered a touching prayer that motivated everybody in the room. Of course, no day is without hiccups, but before the wagon's front wheel fell off the lemonade was saved and the wagon was fixed without a drop of lemonade spilled.

Most would probably ask, why lemonade? Cause that's sure what I was thinking. When I asked Sister Campbell why they chose lemonade: "Well a lemonade reminds one of a picnic, and picnics represent community."

Today left such an amazing impression on me and made me much more excited for the convention than I previously was - and today was only day one!

TRUMP 2016 VS. REAGAN 1976

Ronald Reagan's famous speech at the RNC 1976 convention
after losing the nomination to Gerald Ford,
photo courtesy of wikipedia,org

The program schedule has finally been announced and the biggest surprise? Tim Tebow not being on the speakers list (just kidding). There had been a lot of rumors and proposals of the people that would show up to speak at a convention headlined by Donald Trump, but the final schedule features a selection of prominent leaders and elected officials.

In other news, Henry Gomez at Cleveland.com highlighted Hillary Clinton's team utilizing the rift between Trump and Republican constituents - more specifically in Ohio. With Ohio being such an important swing state in the general election, Gomez reviewed the disconnect between Donald Trump and Ohio GOP leaders and Republican voters. Clinton is scheduled to speak in Cincinnati at the NAACP's annual conference on Monday with reported plans to aggressively push her counter-convention message.

One of the more interesting articles, in my opinion, focused on RNC Chairman Reince Priebus' interview on ABC this week when he paralleled Trump's upcoming convention speech to that of Ronald Reagan's famous convention speech after losing the 1976 Republican contest to Jimmy Carter. Priebus stated that he can foresee Trump in the Oval Office with a powerful speech on Thursday night. When asked if Trump would be sticking to a script or 'freestyling' his speech, Paul Manafort, one of Trump's top advisers, stated: "He's going to be Donald Trump."

Also, Newsday posted a wonderful picture article of some of the behind the scenes action at the RNC so far.

References
East, Kristen. (2016) RNC 2016 schedule of events and speakers. Politico. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/rnc-events-speakers-convention-republicans-225683.
Newsday editors. (2016) RNC 2016 behind the scenes. Newsday. Retrieved from http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/rnc-2016-behind-the-scenes-1.12055060.
Gomez, Henry. (2016) On eve of RNC, Hillary Clinton's team highlights friction between Ohio GOP and Donald Trump. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/07/on_eve_of_rnc_hillary_clintons.html.
Pelzer, Jeremy. (2016) Here's the playbook for Democrats' RNC 'counter-convention' plans in Cleveland. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/07/heres_the_playbook_for_democra.html#incart_m-rpt-1.
Warmbrodt, Zachary. (2016) Priebus: Convention speech is Trump's Reagan moment. Politico. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/priebus-reagan-trump-convention-225670.

TRUMP PICKS HIS VP: MIKE PENCE OF INDIANA

Donald Trump announces Mike Pence as
running mate for 2016 presidential campaign,
 photo courtesy of CNN.com

The big news Friday was that Donald Trump officially announced via Twitter that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will be his running mate in the general election.

The final contenders being talked about throughout the week also included New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich. Henry Gomez pointed out the main takeaways from Trump's decision to choose Pence over Christie or Gingrich: Pence can help Trump build relationships in Congress, Pence was unpopular in his home state and therefore more willing to put his name on the ballot next to Trump's, and also that Trump can remain the alpha dog and attack dog without feeling the need to compete with a character like Christie.

The other main focus of articles have centered around the prospect of Cleveland impressing a national (and international) stage while also dealing with the security threats that many are worried about. With the recent incidents in the south between police officers and civilians, the threat of protest and riots loom very real.

Additionally, PBS News Hour brought back to attention the fact that Ohio's open-carry gun law will allow registered civilians to walk around the streets of Cleveland with a legal personal firearm. Due to the volatile atmosphere surrounding police officers and civilians, especially recently, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Calvin Williams, Cleveland's police chief, plan for extra security officers from federal agencies as well other law enforcement officials from across the country to ensure violence is limited to an absolute minimal.

References
Bush, Daniel. (2016) Ohio's open-carry gun law ratchets up security concerns at RNC. PBS News Hour. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/ohios-open-carry-gun-law-ratchets-security-concerns-rnc/.
Gomez, Henry. (2016) The risks and rewards of Mike Pence as Donald Trump's vice president: 5 takeaways. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/07/the_risks_and_rewards_of_mike.html.

KEY REPUBLICANS ON STRIKE AGAINST TRUMP

The three missing Republicans at 2016 RNC, photo courtesy of nymag.com

One of the main stories Henry Gomez of Cleveland.com focused on today was that John Kasich has yet to endorse Donald Trump. Although there was a proposal for Kasich to emerge as the alternative candidate to Trump for the anti-Trump effort, there have only been signs that Kasich is not interested in the idea.

While the GOP have been attempting to project an image of unity with Trump's nomination, there was still the continued threat of the rogue anti-Trump effort threatening the party order. However Thursday night one of the last ditch efforts by the anti-Trump forces fell short in the Rules Committee as their attempt to issue a minority report and unbind delegates failed to pass. This seems like the last real effort that the anti-Trump forces will attempt, although it will be interesting to see if they are able to explore any other possible loopholes in the rules to try and out Trump's nomination (although it is very, very unlikely, sorry for those opposed to Trump).

Another article today focused on the speakers that will not be at the convention next week. Some notable names include: any member of the Bush family, Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry and John Kasich. What's even more interesting (in my opinion) is that, of the speakers on the list that NBC News could determine their race, 50 of the 60 speakers are white (roughly 83%).

And finally, Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he will be announcing his running mate Friday morning in Manhattan. The top prospects, according to the Associated Press, are Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie. While it has been my opinion that Trump would choose Christie as his vice president, it seems as though Pence would calm "anxious" Republicans and possibly appease and unite the party further.

References
Associated Press. (2016) Donald Trump to announce vice president choice Friday morning. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/rnc-2016/index.ssf/2016/07/donald_trump_to_announce_vice.html.

Gomez, Henry. (2016) Dump Donald Trump effort falls far short. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/07/dump_donald_trump_effort_falls.html.

Gomez, Henry. (2016) The GOP's new Ohio moneyman weighs in on John Kasich's refusal to back Donald Trump. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/07/the_gops_new_ohio_moneyman_wei.html.

Timm, Jane. (2016) 9 elephants in the room at RNC: who's missing from the speakers list. NBC News. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/9-elephants-room-rnc-what-s-missing-speakers-list-n609471.

THE 'ANTI-TRUMP' CHAOS

Photo courtesy of NeverTrump.org

According to Henry Gomez from Cleveland.com, the anti-Trump forces suffered a setback this week as a GOP National Committee member is pushing a proposal that would halt any new rules from taking place until after the convention. The hope of the proposal is to attempt and unify the party further as it is unprecedented for a former presidential nominee to be involved in somewhat of a revolution against the presumptive party candidate.

Furthermore, there is still the worry for the Republican party that the "conscience movement" will gain momentum - a group focused on giving delegates complete freedom in states where they are technically bound to Trump - although without an alternative candidate it will be nearly impossible to stop Trump in Cleveland next week.

Most of the coverage has been focused on the speakers and performers that will be at the convention as well. Trump has promised to release the official speaker lineup for two weeks now and as of right now has not done so. The notable speakers that have been reportedly confirmed to speak are Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Ted Cruz and Scott Walker; it will be interesting to hear what Cruz and Ryan have to say as both are GOP prospects for future party nominees.

References
Giostra, Lindsey and Jane Timm. (2016) Here are the Republican National Convention speakers we know of. NBC News. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/here-are-republican-national-convention-speakers-we-know-n608601.
Gomez, Henry. (2016) Effort to thwart Donald Trump's Republican National Convention foes suffers initial setback. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/07/effort_to_thwart_donald_trumps.html.

THE RNC BEGINS...FOR ME AT LEAST

Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org

Hello! My name is Alec Chenkus and I will be sharing my thoughts and experiences connected with the 2016 Republican National Convention taking place in Cleveland. I'm very excited about the opportunity to have such a unique and impactful event taking place in my hometown; I was born in Peoria, Illinois but moved to Twinsburg, Ohio, a suburb 30 minutes outside of Cleveland, when I was a year and a half old. I have played basketball and baseball, but for most of my life (since I was at least five years old) soccer has always been my sport of choice - and I played competitively until I graduated high school. I went to public school for the entirety of my academic career before enrolling in the Honor's Program at John Carroll University where I plan on graduating in the spring of 2016 with a Bachelor's degree in journalism and a concentration on political science and political communication. My ultimate goal is to focus on investigative reporting as one of my favorite shows is John Oliver's Last Week Tonight; it is my dream of mine to be a researcher for his show. Oliver is fantastic to watch as he has such an impressive ability to condense and analyze massive political and social issues in a very clear, yet entertaining, manner allowing for his viewers to learn a substantial amount of information while still entertaining them. Most of my extra time is spent traveling and hiking with my close group of friends. Anyways, I hope you enjoy traveling along with me through this (predictedly) chaotic 2016 Republican National Convention!

Henry Gomez of Cleveland.com posted two articles related to the convention this week: one focused on Donald Trump's "hostile" hijack of the Republican party and a second on a proposed plan to have John Kasich as the alternative to Trump at the convention.

The article focused on Trump hijacking the party went into great detail about some of the most crass statements that Trump has made in regards to any kind of human consideration, how this campaign makes many nostalgic for Romney's campaign as well as the hope that Rubio's campaign brought, and the hesitance for any true Republicans to back up Trump in any way in order to preserve the party's fundamental ideals.

The second article discussed New Hampshire Sen. Gordon Humphrey's proposed plan to have John Kasich step up as the alternative to Trump at the convention. Humphrey originally had considered Romney as well but ultimately ruled him out, according to an email Humphrey sent to Kasich allies. Chris Schrimpf, a spokesman for Kasich's political team, has responded to the story asserting that Kasich's only plans for the convention are to preserve the safety of the city and to not disrupt.


References
Gomez, Henry. (2016) Donald Trump leads the Republican Party down a troubling, fateful path to Cleveland: analysis. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/07/donald_trump_leads_the_republi_1.html.
Gomez, Henry. (2016) A key ally is urging John Kasich to step up as the GOP convention alternative to Donald Trump. Cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/07/a_key_ally_is_urging_john_kasi.html.