The Morning Briefing: RNC Night 1 Is A Stark Contrast to DNC's Low-T Zoom Meeting

BREAKING: The RNC’s Coffee Machine Is Working

The happiest of Tuesdays to you, fellow travelers on the Kruiser Morning Briefing path. May your day be filled with the beverage of your choice.

The Republican National Convention (RNC) got its weird COVID-year counter-punch to last week’s DNC underway on Monday night. There was a lot of anticipation about how the RNC might handle things differently after the sleepwalking affair that the DNC put on last week.

Forget what the water-carrying media hacks have been saying about the DNC, it was a low-energy hot mess that was plain for all to see.

I wondered aloud several times last week if those producing the RNC were being quiet about their plans because they were watching the DNC to see what not to do. Thankfully, it appears that was the case.

Tyler has a recap of the first night here.

Yeah, I’m a homer, so I was going to like the RNC more than I did the DNC anyway, or at least make it seem like I did for the public. My remarks this morning are rather genuine though.

It happens.

The shift in energy from last week was palpable from the beginning. A lot of the DNC speakers — especially Joe Biden — seemed as if their meds were just kicking in and nap time was imminent. The first round of RNC speakers seemed a to be lot more enthused. There was none of that reluctant “gun to the head” vibe that we saw from the DNC crowd.

That is no doubt due to the very real — and never talked about by the MSM — enthusiasm gap between the two parties. As we saw over and over last week, the Democrats aren’t really voting for Joe Biden, they’re voting against Donald Trump. People get more excited about the stomach flu than most Dems are about Grandpa Gropes right now.

The Trump voters are a different story, and that was evident at the RNC. Some, like Kimberly Guilfoyle, may have been a little too enthusiastic, but that was preferable to just going through the motions. Her enthusiasm got a little meme-worthy at the end but it was very genuine.

Kira Davis wrote a post at our sister site RedState wondering if the proposed speaker lineup for the RNC was cheesy or brilliant. I too was not sure what to make of the schedule when I first saw it. Kira ultimately concluded that it was the latter and I would have to agree based just upon the first night.

One of the more topsy-turvy twists in the Trump era is the way the Republicans know how to play politics now and the Democrats have gotten kind of lazy about it. It’s a complete role-reversal of the status quo of the fifty or so years prior to Trump taking office. A perfect example — which Kira pointed out last week — was that god-awful video that closed night one of the DNC. That kind of cringe-worthy political promotion used to be strictly a Republican thing.

The Dems have even adopted the old GOP presidential election playbook, just handing the nomination to the next old white guy in line. It’s a truly bizarre state of affairs for those of us who have been involved in politics for a long time.

One perplexing thing about the DNC was the drunken Zoom meeting effect. The Dems have almost all of Hollywood in their pockets, so it was strange that the production value last week was so clunky.

The RNC setup looks pretty sleek. Not bad for being thrown together by a bunch of knuckle-draggers who don’t have Eva Longoria waiting in the wings.

The mood at the RNC was decidedly more positive and upbeat than the DNC, and the MSM immediately went to work lying about that. I won’t go into detail on that subject right now because I guarantee I will be writing a lot more about media awfulness this week.

Should be a fun week, especially without having to worry about Julia Louis-Dreyfus trying to be funny.

There are a lot more links about RNC Night One below and my colleagues are liveblogging the convention festivities every night.

OK, It Wasn’t Just Me

"I think it’s fair to say this first night of the Republican national convention, whether you agree or disagree…has been sort of well-produced, very efficient." – CNN's Wolf Blitzer pic.twitter.com/sH8eswodhh

— Francis Brennan (@FrancisBrennan) August 25, 2020

Bee Me

Did Democrats Sacrifice Several Goats To Satan At The DNC? Fact Check: FALSE. They Actually Sacrificed Just One Goat. https://t.co/u4qKx6D61D

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) August 24, 2020

The Kruiser Kabana

pic.twitter.com/VijxUaESjM

— Archillect (@archillect) August 24, 2020

I’m going to make my own 2022 calendar, leap-frog next year, and pretend all of this is far behind us. It’s fun to pretend.

___

Kruiser Twitter
Kruiser Facebook
PJ Media Senior Columnist and Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.” His columns appear twice a week.