The Alabama Republican Party put on an incredibly well-organized Summer Dinner as a fundraiser. They brought in big names from outside, like Republican National Committee Chair Lara Trump, and Tennessee GOP Senator Bill Hegarty. But many in the audience gave an incredibly tepid response during the speeches.
The reason for the somber mood among many attendees could well be former President Trump’s Debate performance. If the Republican Party recognizes this, they’ll have a good chance to recover, and fire up their base again.
RNC Chair Lara Trump came out to greet the audience with a lot of energy and did her best to fire them up. She’s got a good delivery, and while some of the speech stayed on a few points just a little long, it was as good as any politician’s. But the audience response ranged from polite golf applause to a quiet smattering of clapping to utter silence on some lines.
When Ms. Trump mentioned the revised NAFTA deal, there weren’t many cheers. There wasn’t a lot of applause for her touting of the trade deal with China. And when it came time to dramatically talk about how her father-in-law walked across the DMZ and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with almost complete stony silence, even though Ms. Trump delivered in a way that was designed to elicit cheers.
You can’t blast Harris as “Komrade Kamala,” decry Communism and then have us cheer about Trump’s great interactions with both Marxist regimes.
It’s not about the organization. In fact, I would say it was one of the best-organized events I have seen. Alabama GOP Chair John Wahl gave a good speech (the GOP needs to think about getting him involved with the national party), and his team chose the perfect location, and set us up to get fired up. Instead of sneering at the media, I didn’t hear a single angry retort, especially for the way I believe ABC News mishandled the presidential debate.
Some of the lethargy was no doubt Donald Trump’s awful debate performance. I know the ex-president is touting some poll (perhaps one from Newsmax?) saying 92% of people think Trump won. But even my most conservative friends from high school said Harris won. National polls show 63% think Harris won, and got a post-debate bounce. Republicans are offering all kinds of excuses, from a debate prep team of Laura Loomer, Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr., to the ABC News Moderators (who didn’t put words in Trump’s mouth) to Harris’ secret antenna earrings.
Dems are cheering. But to the Republicans’ credit, I didn’t hear any conspiracy theories at the Montgomery event, and nobody mentioned dogs, cats, or ducks in any speech or chat at the Alabama reception.
When I asked about the flat audience, I got a myriad of responses, ranging from “It’s Friday evening and people are tired,” to “It’s a dinner, not a rally” and “Alabama’s not competitive.” I offered that maybe the debate result could be the culprit. Nobody wanted to comment on that. People did stand and cheer for the amazing Army singer who delivered the National Anthem and “God Bless America,” so I know they could do it. And at the post-dinner reception when members could talk with each other, the vibe was better. And the event raised more than a million dollars for the Republican Party, so that was something positive for the Alabama GOP.
Afterwards, I got to talk with Alabama GOP Congressman Barry Moore, about what Washington DC is like. When asked whether things are great on Capitol Hill and not reported, or toxic, his answer was closer to the latter. “We have a massive budget deficit problem,” he observed. “If I had one thing I could do, it would be to get that deficit under control. But there’s no political will to cut, or even keep spending from increasing. Both parties share some blame. It’s more the Democrats’ fault, but there are problems for both sides.” He did note that the House passed bipartisan legislation on a farm bill and HB2, but worried about politics undermining both.
Republicans nationally could learn from Rep. Moore’s frank assessment of the situation, take an honest assessment of the situation, and benefit from AL GOP Chair John Wahl’s organization in their quest to win back the White House, the U.S. Senate, and hold the House of Representatives.
John A. Tures is Professor of Political Science and Coordinator of the Political Science Program at LaGrange College, in LaGrange, Georgia.