CLEVELAND — “Defeat Hillary Vote Trump,” read one popular sticker being worn by Republican delegates on the convention floor as Donald Trump formally accepted the party’s nomination. It was a fitting encapsulation of the week’s proceedings.
The sticker’s message reflected the defensiveness with which many Republicans have talked themselves into supporting Trump. Instead of enthusiastically backing the nominee, they have framed their choice as an act of resistance against Clinton.
Modern conventions have two central purposes — to unify the party and to make a case to a broader electorate. Ideally, parties hope that they need to do as little as possible work on unifying so that they can spend more time focusing on a smaller universe of the unconverted.
But that was not the case in this convention, as speakers repeatedly had to make appeals to those within the party who are having a tough time supporting Trump.
“I know that some have reservations about my friend Donald Trump,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott told delegates.
A frustrated Laura Ingraham mocked those who were reluctant to get on the Trump train. “We should all, even all you boys with wounded feelings and bruised egos, pledge to support Donald Trump now.”
His friend, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, declared, “A vote for anyone other than Donald Trump in November is a vote for Hillary Clinton.”
This point was reiterated by Jerry Falwell, Jr. on the final night of the convention: “A decision not to vote or to vote for a third-party candidate is a de facto vote for Hillary Clinton.”
Hatred of Clinton, Republicans hope, will be the magic elixir that unites the party and delivers the White House to Trump — the only presidential nominee in decades of polling who is less popular than Clinton.
But no matter how much Republicans try to convince themselves that the lesser of two evils argument will save them from a rout in November, it won’t heal the deep fissures that exist within the party.
When Republicans gathered here, it was already clear that they were not united in any true sense of the word. Dozens of prominent lawmakers skipped the convention. Trump opponents spent the week leading up to the convention — and the first day of the convention itself — in open rebellion against his nomination.
And one of the most talked-about moments came when Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump’s chief rival, was booed off the stage for failing to endorse Trump, causing fierce clashes on the floor between pro-Trump and anti-Trump delegates.
It would be easy for critics of Trump to argue that the party is divided because of the nominee. But the reality is that Trump was able to win the nomination because the party is divided.
Though Republicans, with their chants of “Lock Her Up,” made it clear what they are against over the course of four days, it isn’t clear they can agree on what they’re for.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has been working for years to get Republicans to unite around a specific policy agenda. But in his speech at the convention, Ryan longingly argued, “Only with Donald Trump and Mike Pence do we have a chance at a better way.” The fact that he used the word “chance” was telling.
Even in his role as chairman of the convention, Ryan couldn’t bring himself to offer a more forceful case for his party’s nominee that stated that Trump emphatically would make things better by embracing a positive agenda.
The only point he could make was a more narrow one — essentially, that there was a non-zero chance that Trump would sign some of House Republicans’ agenda, which is higher than the 0 percent chance under a Clinton presidency.
In accepting the nomination, however, Trump offered a reminder of why there isn’t much reason for Ryan to hope. Though he promised at the start of the speech to present his “plan of action” and that he would “outline” reforms, Trump offered little explanation for how he would lead America out of the dark times he described.
Among the few tangible policy promises Trump offered were that he would build a wall and renegotiate (and possibly withdraw from) trade deals — neither part of the agenda Ryan has rolled out. In fact, quite the opposite.
Despite all the rosy talk from party leaders about the party uniting around Trump, the reality is that the Republican Party is deeply divided. It is divided ideologically. It is divided regionally. It is divided by class. It is divided by age.
The only way Republicans will be able to win elections and actually govern is if they have something positive to unite around, not just a mutual hatred of Hillary Clinton. But that is impossible given the fundamental differences and deep distrust that exists among Republicans.
