After watching Donald Trump's angry Republican acceptance speech I thought we could easily have changed the time and place and arrived at a Bavarian beer hall political rally in 1923. Seriously, if your go-to convention chant is "Lock Her Up!" you're not in a good place.
Trump tried to convince (or reassure) his audience that America is mired in a dark and ugly place, where Mexicans and other scary immigrants are on the verge of taking over the country. This turned what should have been an inspiring moment into clarion call of fear, bigotry, and scapegoating.
Trump didn't speak to the values and ideas that made America great as much as he remade the case that without a wall America would be run over by gangs, violence and drugs.
At the same time, Trump made few specific policy proposals - except for when it came to trade - choosing, instead, to talk about what he wanted to do, all by himself. In this respect, what we saw was the emergence of a cult of personality, where the individual rather than a nation's values and its people make a country great.
I'll be talking about this, and more, with the KGET 17 News Sunrise team tomorrow morning at 6:30 am.
- Mark
Update: You can access our morning exchange, and the numbers I referenced in the exchange, by clicking here.
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