A defining moment

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday the 18th of July.

You’re listening to The World and Everything in It and we’re glad to have you along today. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

First up, the theme of unity at the Republican National Convention continues through wrap up tonight.

Last night’s speech from Vice Presidential nominee J. D. Vance may raise questions both pro and con as to his fitness as a candidate and presumptive successor to Donald Trump as leader of the Republican party.

REICHARD: Joining us now to put things in perspective is Hunter Baker. He’s the provost of North Greenville University, and a commentator for WORLD Opinions.

Hunter, good morning!

HUNTER BAKER: Good morning. Happy to be with you.

REICHARD: Glad you're here. Well, we have a before and after to talk about. Before the assassination attempt on Trump on Saturday, there were certain expectations for the RNC. After that day, though, things changed. So what were the expectations then versus now?

BAKER: Well, before the assassination attempt, things were still looking good for Trump. I mean, we had just been through a solid two weeks of discussion of whether Joe Biden was simply too old to be the president and whether he would be replaced. Plus, Trump had often led in the polls even before that debate performance. If we go back to to 2016 and 2020, I don't think Trump ever really led in those years. So things were looking pretty good for his campaign even before the assassination attempt. And then, of course, when the assassination attempt happened, that moment is a revealing moment. Anything could occur there. He could have panicked. He could have looked like a coward. Instead, he jumped up, and he was defiant, and he looked courageous. And of course, I'm sure we've all heard lots of anecdotes of people we know who aren't really political reacting positively to the way Trump conducted himself. A lot of people who don't follow politics all the time, they look at that and they say that looks like a leader to me.

REICHARD: Well, let's turn to the question of running mates. Some names on the short list were North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, but it was Ohio Senator J. D. Vance who got the nod. What does Vance bring to this ticket? And let's talk about the positives first.

BAKER: Yeah. So first of all, this pick is a pick that shows a lot of confidence in the prospects of the campaign. By choosing Vance, he is not choosing somebody to shore himself up in any particular area. Instead, it looks like he has chosen a successor, an ideological successor, because Vance shares many of the economic views that Trump has been promoting for some time now. The other thing to say about Vance is, is that he is young. He is extremely well known because of his super best selling book, Hillbilly Elegy, which was made into a Netflix movie that a lot of people have seen. And he is going to do very well on the public stage, you're talking about somebody who came from nothing, who went through the Marines, went through Ivy League, legal education, became a successful venture capitalist, and now as a senator. And so, you know, he's gone a long way, and he's going to, he's gonna do well during this test, I think.

REICHARD: Well, nobody's perfect. And so let's talk about what the potential drawbacks are with Vance as the vice presidential pick.

BAKER: Yeah, the biggest drawback is that he is different from a classic Reaganite conservative. When we think about Ronald Reagan, we think about somebody who wanted to reduce the size of government. We think of somebody who is is suspicious of big government, somebody who wanted to to pursue free trade. J.D. Vance is different from that, and he's different from that in the same way that that Donald Trump is much more of an economic nationalist, much more someone who is prioritizing domestic production on American soil, someone who is concerned that free trade agreements actually damage the prospects of American workers. So that's a term, and the Republican Party is made up of a coalition of different kinds of people, and those people who are most comfortable with a Reagan type of almost libertarian outlook, they're going to be unhappy with J.D. Vance.

REICHARD: Well, Trump is scheduled to speak tonight, Thursday night, at the end of the convention. He said that this attempt on his life changed him. So what will you be listening for?

BAKER: Yeah, this is fascinating. I don't know that we have ever seen anything quite like this. When Ronald Reagan was shot and almost killed, there was a considerable period of time before he was actually running – that was very early in his first term. Here we have something happening right before the Republican National Convention. And of course, Trump's comments have been very suggestive, right, that he is kind of doing some soul searching, that he maybe has changed the kind of speech that he intended to give, that he would aim at unifying Americans. So I'm going to be watching to see, whether, whether he can really do that, can Trump do something different? I will say this, if he can do it, if Trump can can offer a more unifying message, I think that his prospects for winning will go way up. I think that he will pull over some of those people who have disliked him, people who have found him to be aggressive or unpleasant, you know, unlikable. I think he has the chance to pull some of those people over, especially women, especially suburban women, which has been an Achilles heel for him. And so that's, that's what I'm looking for, is, can he show something more of a measured and compassionate side in this speech.

REICHARD: Final question here: there’s a rarified air about this convention given what we’ve just been through. Anything else about this RNC that stands out to you compared to previous ones?

BAKER: We see a real chance for unity here. Right after this assassination attempt, you see Nikki Haley at the convention with a speaking role, and what this shows is is probably people who have been the most at odds with Donald Trump joining him right here at the end, and so I think that the convention is probably feeling more positive, not only about potential victory, but about how how they are seeing each other right now.

REICHARD: Hunter Baker is Provost of North Greenville University and a contributor to World Opinions. Hunter, thanks so much!

BAKER: Thank you.

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