President Trump needs to use his party convention to heap pressure and headlines on his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, while resisting the temptation to hog the spotlight, according to Republican strategists and allies.
They say time is running out to reverse a poll deficit and that the Republican National Convention could be Trump’s last, best chance to prevent the election from being purely a referendum on his record.
Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, a former Senate GOP leadership aide, said they had to present voters with a choice between two visions of the country.
“They need to be realistically upbeat about the future of the country while showcasing the president’s record and contrasting it with Biden’s failure to lead over the past 47 years he’s been in Washington,” he said.
A former White House official said the best way would be to present an upbeat tone to contrast with the Democratic convention’s air of doom.
“I think it’s important to define Biden and contrast him with the president, but because of the general depressing and dour tone of the Democrat convention, I think it’s extra important for Republicans to paint a positive message of hope next week,” he said.
The challenge is similar to that faced by incumbents down the ages: how best to ensure the election campaign is not merely a granular dissection of every decision and every misstep they have made in office.
This time, they have advantages. Not only do they face a challenger with a long record in Washington, but they have had a week to digest the lessons learned by Democrats who grappled with the challenge of putting on a convention during a time of pandemic.
The aim is to deliver a more engaging package than what some observers said was an overproduced, sterile Democratic infomercial.
Trump plans to deliver his speech on the White House South Lawn in front of an audience, with fireworks to follow.
“The Trump people have a template to work from, so they have a huge advantage that the Biden people didn’t,” said veteran Republican strategist Rich Galen.
“The disadvantage they have is that in this attempt to make the election about Biden’s lack of capacity — whether it’s mental, or his ability to fend off progressives — Trump will tweet all through the day and all through the night and turn it upside down, making it all about him again.”
The comparison does not necessarily have to just be about the top of the ticket but can have a partywide focus, said a senior Republican source, with an eye on down-ballot races.
“The main focus should be on defining how radical the Democratic Party has become these last four years. No other message will win swing voters,” he said.
Trump allies privately worry about the president’s ability to keep the focus on Biden. Previous attempts to define his opponent have had mixed results, with Trump sometimes leaving viewers to decide whether the Democratic nominee is a confused, incapacitated old man or a dangerous threat to American democracy.
On other occasions, the message got lost. A rally in Tulsa in June was designed to showcase attack lines but was overshadowed by poor attendance and positive COVID-19 tests among staffers.
On Friday, Trump delivered his response to Biden’s convention speech and the Democrats’ bleak vision on America in what may be a forerunner to the Republican convention.
“They want to punish America and its citizens instead of holding them high,” he told the Council for National Policy in Arlington, Virginia. “When Joe Biden sees American darkness, I see American greatness.”
