MILWAUKEE — After years of planning, the Republican Party is just one week away from bringing their presidential nominating convention to Wisconsin.
Next week, 50,000 delegates, journalists, staff and visitors will be in downtown Milwaukee as the party offers its vision for the next four years.
On Monday, it was announced those daily themes will include Make America Wealthy Once Again, Make America Safe Once Again, Make America Strong Once Again, and Make America Great Once Again.
During a one-on-one interview with Spectrum News 1’s Anthony DaBruzzi, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley said the convention will be a big opportunity to contrast between two presidencies.
“We want to talk about strength versus weakness. We want to talk about success versus failure, but you know, you can’t just win an election by talking about how weak your opponent is,” Whatley explained. “Yes, he’s at 36% approval rating, and Kamala Harris is even worse, but we’ve got to be able to put our story out there and tell people why they should vote for Donald Trump. Why they should vote for Republicans.”
Even though there will be four daily themes, Whatley believes each will equally resonate most with voters in battleground Wisconsin.
“The key is, Donald Trump really wants to connect with all Wisconsin voters,” Whatley added. “He wants to talk with all Wisconsin families, and I think when you think about this election cycle, it’s not enough, in a state like Wisconsin, where you basically have a third of voters are Republican, a third are Democrat, and a third are Independent. You can’t just win with Republicans. So, you need to talk to all families, you need to talk to all voters, and that’s our plan.”
In August, Democrats will go through a similar presidential nomination process in Chicago. However, many people wonder if the party will stick with its presumed nominee, President Biden, amid pressure for him to drop out of the race.
Since the first debate between Biden and Trump, two separate opinion polls, one from the Wall Street Journal and the latest New York Times/Siena Poll, have former President Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden by as much as six percentage points. The Times poll had a margin of error of 2.8 points, while the Wall Street Journal’s poll was 2.5 points.
Whether the party sticks with Biden or decides to select someone else, Whatley isn’t concerned.
“Our approach is the same, no matter who it’s going to be,” Whatley said. “We believe in a strong America. We believe in a strong southern border. We believe in a strong economy. We believe in a strong standing in the world. That’s not going to change, and if we see that President Biden is going to double down on the same failed policies that he’s put into place over the last four years, so is Kamala Harris, so would Gretchen Whitmer, so would Gavin Newsom. Anybody that they could possibly put up on the ballot is going to buy into the same policies that President Biden has put in place.”