Democrats at Republican National Convention See GOP ‘Extremely United’ Over Donald Trump

The mood here among Milwaukee Republicans is one of sheer joy—a sense that they are on the verge of winning in November, amplified by a seemingly endless series of polls showing Donald Trump on the way to defeat Joe Biden, could be a landslide victory. They were excited about the swing-state polls, gloating about the Democratic divide and eagerly anticipating Biden’s next stumble. “I think this is a 1776 moment,” Vivek Ramaswamy Speaking at a Moms for Liberty event this week, he promised to issue a “new Declaration of Independence by 2024.”

But for Democrats, the context here mostly just underscores how Trump has tightened his grip on the Republican Party since the party first nominated him for president in 2016. “He has completed the takeover of the Republican Party,” Ben Wilker, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, told me Wednesday morning. “What’s striking about all of this is that there’s a greater level of unity among Republicans in this convention than we thought we saw in 2016,” he added. Yasmin Radjy, “Rhetorically, it’s all very well-coordinated and well-orchestrated, pointing in one direction, which is MAGA extremism,” said the executive director of the progressive Swing Left.

Indeed, while the 2016 Republican Party nominated Trump with some reservations—“Vote your conscience,” Ted Cruz told the crowd that year after enduring a barrage of insults from the nominee in the primary—they were now enthusiastically pledging their allegiance. “God bless Donald J. Trump,” Cruz said in his speech this year, referring to the former president’s assassination last weekend. Thank God, the Texas senator added, for “turning [Trump’s] early Saturday when that shot was fired.”

“I don’t think Democrats appreciate enough how incredibly dangerous progress has been made in moving the Republican Party down the very narrow ideological path of MAGA extremism,” Radjy told me.

The option of JD Vance Because Trump’s running mate reflects that extremism—and could accelerate it, former Democratic senator Heidi Heitkamp told me. “It signals the continuation of [his] “The rhetoric and approach is very populist,” said the moderate.

We were speaking at Youth VoteFest, a voter engagement conference on the grounds of the former Pabst brewery. We were only about a half mile from the convention grounds, but the nonpartisan event, hosted by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, felt like a different world—a refreshing break from all that radical rhetoric after two days of immersion.

Here, participating college students came up with ideas to get their friends to vote. They also vented about a few reasons they might Are not this year, including that the current administration does not have a “trustworthy track record” and that “people are only upset about each party’s candidate.” In short: The current situation has made them extremely skeptical.

I think that skepticism is a big challenge for Democrats this year: While the party’s record on abortion, the economy, and many other issues is more relevant to voters than their opponents’, and many Democratic candidates—like Sen. Tammy Baldwin here in Wisconsin—is exploring wellBiden appears to be struggling to connect. Throughout the race, he has struggled with poor approval ratings and unfavorable polling, including in battlegrounds like the Dairy State. But his disastrous debate performance last month exacerbated the problem and deepened concerns about his age and mental acuity, leading some high-profile Democrats—most recently a prominent Senate candidate and California congressman—to Adam Schiff—to call him give up. The response from Biden and his inner circle could also put the party’s credibility at risk. Can they overcome all that to prevent an extreme second term for Trump?

“I don’t think Democrats are divided as much as they are genuinely concerned,” Heitkamp told me. And while enthusiasm for the party may be “more than concern” right now, Wikler said, “at some point, it’s a binary choice.”

“There are many people across the country who think Trump should never have been in office. Their votes could determine whether Project 2025 becomes a reality,” Wikler added.