GOP Convention: Day 1

Not bad. Not bad, at all.

Hard to believe that Hollywood and the tech billionaires are all Democrats when you compare the production values of the GOP convention with that of last week's DNC convention.  No contest. The DNC convention came off looking like a high school-produced informercial while the GOP convention had a nice glossy professional sheen to it (most of the time, e.g., there was some shaky green screen in a couple of spots.)

OK, the superficial stuff aside, the content of the GOP convention proved far superior to that of the DNC. The speakers, by large, came off as much more authentic, with heart-felt speeches. I particularly liked Senator Tim Scott and Maximo Alvarez. I think Scott has a bright future in the GOP and seems positioning himself for 2024. His line about how his family has gone from "cotton to Congress" in one lifetime was the line of the night. Alvarez, too, came across as a genuine lover of America. His comment that his father used to tell him that if "America is lost, there is nowhere else to go," resonated with me as my own immigrant father used to say the same thing to me. Governor Nikki Haley was OK--I was never a big fan of hers, but think she did OK this night. I also liked the presentation by Kim Klacik, so much so that I donated $200 to her long-shot campaign for Congress. Donald Trump, jr., is an accomplished speaker, and likely has a political future; his speech was fine. I didn't care for the rather loud and screechy presentation by Kimberly Guilfoyle, and am not clear why she had a speaking role except for her relationship with Don, Jr. Herschel Walker and Vernon Jones also gave some powerful speeches which pretty much destroyed the narrative of Trump as racist. 

I don't know what the ratings were for this convention, but they couldn't have been helped by the rather poor TV coverage. Even friendly FOX stepped all over some of the presentations, especially that by Alvarez, to bring the usual comments from a panel of pundits. I, frankly, don't care what Donna Brazile or Karl Rove has to say about a particular speaker: let me listen and make up my own mind. 

Overall, an auspicious start. Give it an A-/B+.