by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
As political parties struggle to identify themselves to the voters, clues to the character of each party lie in the people they invite to speak to their conventions. This week the Democrats have tried to paint a picture of itself as a party that is moderate and inclusive to the point that Republicans who are offended by the vulgarity and corruption of the Trump administration can find a comfortable home with the Democrats - at least for the current election.
To that end, a host of Republicans have been scheduled to speak at the Democratic convention and offer support for the Biden-Harris ticket. The list of GOP Biden supporters include politicians like former governors John Kasich of Ohio and New Jersey's Christine Todd Whitman, former army general and Secretary of State Colin Powell, former presidential candidates and business CEO's Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, former congresswoman Susan Molinari, John McCain's widow Cindy, and even Trump's former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.
And that list of Republican speakers is augmented by a strong cadre of speakers from across the very wide spectrum of Democratic politicians and activists. Bernie Sanders was a speaker at this year's convention where he gave a full-throated endorsement to the ticket. Both Clintons spoke, so did Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Speaker Pelosi. Michelle Obama was the clear star of Monday night, and Barack Obama will speak this evening.
The Democratic Party planned a convention that showed the itself to be a welcoming safe-harbor for a wide variety of Americans. Republicans who are disgusted with excesses and outrages of the Trump administration can seek shelter with the Democrats until the GOP has time to right itself and return to normal.
The GOP, on the other hand, seems to be planning a convention designed to prove that it remains out-of-touch with the American mainstream. Over the last two days some "unusual" speakers have been announced for the Republican convention.
Donald Trump has been less than subtle in his efforts to stoke racial tensions in American's suburbs, apparently feeling that the burbs are, like himself, stuck somewhere back in the late twentieth century. He has referred to the Black Lives Matter movement as a "hate group," and he has had his administration roll back fair housing practices claiming that eliminating the anti-discrimination measures would prevent low-income housing from coming into the suburbs. It was all part of a "dog-whistle" process to tell suburbanites that he was fighting to keep their neighborhoods white.
At about the time Trump's battles both Fair Housiing and the BLM were making headlines, a St. Louis couple, both lawyers, also grabbed a few headlines and a fawning appreciation on Fox News when they stood, armed, on the front porch of their mansion as a group of Black Lives Matter protesters marched in a nearby street. That couple, spirited representatives of privileged (and armed) white America, have been invited to speak at the GOP convention.
And more than a year ago, an exclusive Catholic boys' high school in Kentucky transported a bunch off their students to Washington, DC, to participate in a "right-to-life" demonstration. During their public outing a small group of the boys got into a confrontation with a black Jewish group. At some point an elderly, and very photogenic, American Indian male showed up to try and de-escalate the situation. One of the boys, also photogenic, appeared to get in the Indian's face, and several news cameras began snapping rapid photos. The ensuing stories reported that the kids were harassing the Native American - and the parents of the young man at the center of the photos decided that a lawsuit might right the grievous wrong that they felt had been done to their son - and perhaps make a few bucks in the process. The family sued several news outlets for amounts in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
That young man has also been invited to speak to the GOP convention.
If the political parties are selecting convention speakers who represent their values, then the Democrats value opportunity and diversity - and the Republicans continue to value wealth, privilege, whiteness, guns, and opportunism.
In November we will learn what the American people value.
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