This past Monday kicked off the Republican National Convention for an election that has been arguably the worst, but definitely the most entertaining. This election has all the cutthroat alliances of Game of Thrones crossed over with the drama, humor, betrayal, and lies that a reality TV show like "The Apprentice" brings to the table so why would any of them stop in time for the convention? Here are the top ten takeaways from the 2016 Republican National Convention.
1. Ted Cruz
Nothing says Game of Thrones quite like a broken alliance that was built on shaky ground. One of the most baffling things in my mind was why Trump even allowed Cruz to speak in the first place. Perhaps it was a deal made with the GOP to showcase good sportsmanship and an attempt to unify the party but maybe it was Trump looking for the satisfaction of making a guy, who had lost to him, tell the Republicans that Trump is the man. However, it should go without saying that a man he had been trading heavy blows with the last few months was not going to take it lightly. Cruz remembered the humiliation he suffered at the hands of Trump and saw his time slot as a way to get back at the nominee. I don't really care for the man or care about why he was speaking, but I appreciate the plot twist he provided.
2. Plagiarism Pt. 1
We all know plagiarism is wrong. Teachers and professors have been drilling it into our minds forever and how we should never do it. Mrs. Trump also did not steal someone's entire speech word for word. Melania did not even write the speech that night. Get over it everyone. We all know that this election is an episode of reality TV and everyone wants it to stop being that way but it never will if we keep looking for the smallest things to exaggerate and bring into the spotlight. The speechwriter admitted the wrongdoing and will most likely be let go by Trump. We also cannot ignore the fact that politicians borrow parts of speeches as their own all the time. In the last two days I've seen several videos showcasing President Obama using borrowed speech in his 2008 campaign. It isn't a big deal. Move on.
3. Paul Ryan endorsement
Something that can be seen as a big deal in the GOP was the endorsement by former VP candidate and current Speaker of the House: Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan was very much against Donald Trump for the majority of this election and having the Speaker of the House opposing you can be detrimental to party unity. I can't tell if Paul Ryan actually had a change of heart and supports Trump or if he is more focused on uniting the party. Either way, the endorsement was huge.
4. The Candidates' Walk of Shame
Ahhhh the convention. The place where the nomination winner has the ability to parade his runner ups in front of the convention and make them endorse the candidate who they fell before all those months ago. The only two souls Trump spared were Jeb and Kasich but everyone else was fair game. We already covered Cruz's attempted disruption earlier in the list but other fallen candidates such as Chris Christie, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker all pledged their allegiance to Trump.
5. Trump Enters
If we have to give credit to Trump somewhere, it would have to be his entrances. They remind me of Tony Stark's entrance into his expo in Ironman 2. Although he entered to Queen without the bands permission, the man really does know how to put on a show.
6. Pence accepts a powerful position?
There was little surprise when Pence formally accepted the Vice President nomination. Pence was a clear choice in the GOP because he brings the GOP values into a nomination with someone the party is divided on because he is not a traditional nominee. What makes this more interesting is the rumor that Trump is making the VP hold more power than the past ones which must have convinced Governor Pence to get on board with the Trump campaign.
7. Plagiarism Pt. 2
After Mrs. Trump's speech, people were just dying for another piece to bring up and gloat over and they found it with Donald Trump Jr. The only problem was, although his speech matched an article closely, his speech was written by the author of that article. Once again people, try to focus on the bigger issues at hand.
8. Laura Ingraham
Uhhhhhh what? First off, most people are wondering who Laura Ingraham is. Well aside from speaking at the Republican National Convention Wednesday, she is a national conservative political commentator with a radio show. Some of you may also be wondering why she made the list and why she is even relevant. Well at the end of her speech, she appears to have made the Nazi salute to the RNC crowd. Yikes. Perhaps there is a reason that they keep her on the radio and don't let her on live TV.
9. Giuliani Endorsement
Something troubling at the convention is that aside from the former candidates endorsing Trump, we haven't had many notable strong political figures stand up and give an endorsement. One of the few exceptions was the endorsement made by former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani. NYC was not a weak area in the Trump campaign at all but having a strong endorsement by the former mayor may have given Trump the slight boost he needed.
10. Twitter Holds the Power
The one constant in this election is the power of Twitter. I have never seen more involvement in politics than this election season. Sure most of the people involved may have no idea what they're talking about or what they are doing but it is nice to see a resurgence in interest. Twitter has helped out by providing live stream to the RNC so that people can follow along on the go. Kudos to you Twitter.
