CLEVELAND – I had no idea what to expect heading into the Republican National Convention this week.
In fact, I admitted that very thing upon arriving in Cleveland on Sunday. Having never covered a convention before, I had a lot to learn but I thought I had a general idea of what might happen.
Boy was I wrong, because the nation has never seen a candidate like Donald Trump before. In the words of his own wife Melania, there wouldn’t be a Trump event without excitement and drama, and the convention surely delivered.
There were five official sessions of the Republican National Convention over the four days. At every single session, there was a spectacle – something that more seasoned political veterans than I had never seen before. Each session’s drama seemed to top the last one.
I had a front row seat to it all.
From my little desk space in section 121 of Quicken Loans Arena, I watched as history was made over and over again throughout convention week. All the while, I was counting my lucky stars that eight months of working to obtain credentials to the RNC was about to pay off.
It began with Monday’s afternoon business session – typically, a routine session where rules and regulations of the convention are accepted. Chairman Reince Priebus was optimistic about party unity as the session started. The delegates had other plans.
I explained more in detail in Monday’s article, but the gist is this: one group of the delegation wanted to “vote their conscience,” while another wanted to accept the rules that delegates are bound to vote for the victorious candidate in their state. A request for a roll-call vote to determine this was denied.
So it came down to a voice vote to accept the rules. I’ll let you decide which side won (video quality is poor, but audio is not):
The journalists all around me stood watching with their mouths open in disbelief. As a friend of mine pointed out, you’d think parliamentary procedure would necessitate a roll-call vote with such a strong objection.
Yet Trump argues that it’s actually Bernie Sanders who is the victim of a rigged system. But I digress.
The controversy continued Monday evening with Melania Trump’s speech that turned out to be partially plagiarized from a 2008 Michelle Obama speech. Some have argued that it’s unfair to focus on one small part of the speech, or that all First Lady’s have given similar speeches through the years.
Nevertheless it’s what dominated headlines on Tuesday during a time when the Republican party was trying to prove it really could pull off winning the November election.
But nothing compared to the drama that was to come on Wednesday, when Sen. Ted Cruz refused to officially endorse Donald Trump on the convention stage. As video screens flickered, Trump’s entrance to the arena upstaged the senator and I was trying desperately to figure out what was unfolding.
Meanwhile, Cruz urged America to “vote your conscience.”
Sound familiar?
Some may have thought Cruz would come back later and endorse Trump. Instead, he dug his heels in at a breakfast event Thursday morning, saying he refused to be a “servile puppy dog” and endorse a man who had insulted his wife and father.
Cruz’s bold move was, again, unprecedented at his party’s convention. He dominated headlines for another day, stealing focus yet again from the Republicans’ message of party unity.
Then of course, the most unbelievable sight of all: Donald Trump officially accepting the Republican party’s nomination for the presidency. It doesn’t matter where you fall on the political spectrum, the man was given a one percent chance of earning the nomination when he announced he was running. No one thought he would be on that stage on Thursday.
This is just the melodrama that happened inside Quicken Loans Arena. My colleague Dillon Carr can offer a slice of life outside, amid the surrounding spectacle in Cleveland.
Every day this week, I witnessed something that had never happened before at a political convention – and might never happen again. Every day, there was a moment that illustrated Melania’s point – excitement and drama follows Trump everywhere he goes. These are facts, no matter who you’re planning on voting for in November.
I do not take for granted the incredible opportunity to report on one of the most newsworthy political events of our time. A friend had to remind me that I was literally watching history happen. And I had the chance to put that history into the record for Richland Source.
That, my friends, is pretty unbelievable in itself.
