Originally, the Republican National Convention was supposed to bring together more than 2,500 delegates 鈥� including 155 from Texas 鈥� in Charlotte, North Carolina. But, with COVID-19, that鈥檚 been scaled back to just six per state or territory.
First-time RNC delegate Desiree Brown, 36, had planned to spend this week at a simultaneous event for delegates in Jacksonville, Fla., cheering on President Donald Trump with fellow Republicans from around the country. But that was also canceled over coronavirus concerns.
Now Brown, who leads the , is one of the 149 Texas delegates who鈥檒l be watching from home.
鈥淚t鈥檚 still exciting, but it's definitely disappointing that I'm still just going to be watching it from my living room instead of being there in person,鈥� Brown said. She and her fellow delegates have proxied their voting capabilities to the six Texans who will be attending the convention鈥檚 in-person component.
DNC And RNC: Two Parties, Two Conventions, Different Goals
2020 campaign watchers for their last week. After a seemingly-endless campaign season, the party officially nominated former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris to take on President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in November.
鈥淧art of what any convention needs to do is to bring everybody in the family back together after a contentious primary and caucus season,鈥� said Rebecca Deen, associate professor of political science at the University of Texas at Arlington. 鈥淚 think the Democrats achieved that very successfully.鈥�
The digital format, Deen said, may also have helped the Democrats.
But 鈥� besides disappointing delegates like Brown 鈥� Deen doesn鈥檛 think Republicans have anything to lose in conducting some portions IRL. After all, Deen said, both party鈥檚 conventions serve different purposes this year.
The Republican Party of Texas posted this video to the state party鈥檚 official YouTube channel on Saturday. In it, Texas GOP Chairman Allen West describes safety precautions being put in place against protesters. 鈥淵ou know what's the difference between the Democratic convention and the Republican convention?鈥� asks West. 鈥淲e have to be sealed in.鈥�
鈥淐onventions are supposed to unify the base, also to introduce the voters to the nominee,鈥� Deen explained. 鈥淧resident Trump doesn't have to unify a base nor does he have to introduce himself to the nation, not only because he's the incumbent president, but also because people have pretty firmly solidified views of the President.鈥�
Brown, for one, describes herself as a Trump supporter since the beginning. She works in the financial services sector, and disapproved of how President Obama and the Democrats handled the economy. As President Obama鈥檚 term wound down, Brown hoped a Republican with a business background would step into the ring.
鈥淲hen Donald Trump started hinting that he wanted to run, late 2014 or early 2015, I immediately jumped on board and backed him,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淲hen he announced he was running for president, that was actually what motivated me to look up and find the Collin County Young Republicans, and I became a member instantly.鈥�
Bringing A Texas Perspective To The National Convention
Starting Monday evening, the RNC will feature four nights of speakers echoing Brown鈥檚 enthusiasm.
Just two Texans are on the schedule: anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson, who once worked for Planned Parenthood, and first-term Congressman Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy Seal who now represents Texas鈥檚 Houston-area 2nd Congressional District.
鈥淐ongressman Crenshaw is a very thoughtful guy,鈥� said Dr. Robin Armstrong, the GOP National Committeeman from Texas, in an interview Sunday, shortly after the official RNC speaker schedule was released. 鈥淚 also think he'll bring a Texas perspective. We're sort of a 鈥楲ive Free or Die鈥� kind of state. I think he'll represent us well.鈥�
Last week, Texas Democrats expressed frustration that so few Texans were featured prominently on the DNC stage. Committeeman Armstrong said Texas Republicans don鈥檛 share that feeling.
鈥淥ur time on the stage is not the most important thing. The RNC has invested a lot of resources in the state of Texas,鈥� said Armstrong. 鈥淲e're a very, very important state and the Republican National Committee certainly recognizes that and understands that.鈥�
Armstrong hopes, if Texans do watch, they鈥檒l pay more attention to how few politicians are scheduled to speak.
鈥淲e really want to tell the story about everyday Americans, and how this President has benefited their lives,鈥� said Armstrong.
Brown is looking forward to watching. The current Collin County resident grew up in Midland, and said she鈥檚 especially happy with the energy industry and economy under President Trump. She also thinks Republicans are fortunate to be hosting their convention after the Democrats.
鈥淚 hope that the message from all of the Republican speakers stays positive,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淭he biggest thing that I didn't see out of the DNC was...they just did not talk a whole lot about what Joe Biden will do or what his plans are. It was just constantly what Donald Trump has done negatively.鈥�
Running Up The Score
As for the battle over Texas鈥檚 38 electoral votes, Trump and Biden are about even in polls of Lone Star State voters. But Armstrong said Democrats shouldn鈥檛 get their hopes up. A Democrat hasn鈥檛 won the state since Jimmy Carter did in 1976. He doesn鈥檛 think it will happen this year either.
鈥淲e're certainly gonna win the state of Texas by a large margin. But it's important for us to run up the score in the state of Texas and make sure that we win by hopefully double digits this time,鈥� Armstrong explained. 鈥淪o we could win state house seats, win state Senate seats and win two congressional seats back that we lost in 2018. And so that's our focus.鈥�
While Armstrong said Republicans aren鈥檛 scaling back on their effort to keep Texas red, he鈥檚 well plugged into the changes they have made to the convention鈥檚 Charlotte activities because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He鈥檚 a practicing doctor of internal medicine in South Texas, and one of the people on site this week.
Armstrong said everyone who will be at the convention will have been tested multiple times. Attendees will also be practicing social distancing, he said, and wearing masks.
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