by Darren Janz Well, the month of July is over, and with it the 2016 Republican and Democratic National Conventions are now behind us. With the general election now in full speed as November inches closer and closer, let's look back at some of the most memorable moments of the conventions. First up, the Republicans: Unfortunately for Donald Trump, the RNC got off to a pretty rough start, to say the least, with the popularity of Melania Trump's initially well-received performance on the opening night of the convention going downhill fast as it became evident parts of her speech were plagiarized from that made by Michelle Obama in the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The following video highlights some of the most obvious examples of the copying, courtesy of CNN: Unsurprisingly, the increasingly gaffe-resistant Trump campaign was somehow able to shift attention away from controversy once again, using an amalgamation of shifting blame to campaign staffers and recalling similar plagiarism controversies revolving around Democrats in an attempt to deflect media attention from the snafu. I, personally, thought the most notable speech of the first night other than Melania's was that of Patricia Smith, the mother of Sean Smith, who was one of four Americans killed in the 2012 Benghazi attacks. Smith's passionate speech, which notably included the phrase, "I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son," was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable events of the four-day convention, and demonstrated once and for all that the Trump campaign isn't willing to let the American public forget about Clinton's past controversies. Other than the Melania's speech on the first night of the convention, the only other particularly contentious moment of the RNC was likely Ted Cruz's speech on Wednesday evening, in which he pleaded with voters to "vote their conscience" in the presidential race instead of explicitly endorsing Trump. Cruz's remarks - unexpected by most, including me - resulted in prominent backlash from a number of GOP figures, with Newt Gingrich, Chris Christie, Mike Pence, and (of course) Donald Trump denouncing the senator for refusing to support his party's nominee - a promise he made at the first GOP primary debate almost a year ago. The remarks made by Mike Pence and Donald Trump in their acceptance speeches were largely taken well by the public, with Pence - true to his title as a Vice Presidential nominee - leaving no room in his attacks against Hillary Clinton, and Trump largely sticking to policy as he seemingly attempted to shift the direction of his campaign in preparation for the upcoming general election season. Trump's speech ended the RNC on what undoubtedly seemed to be a good note for the GOP, with the days following the convention seeing a noticeable boost for the Trump campaign in general election polling. Of course, like almost everything in American politics, things aren't what they seem to be. For better or for worse - depending on your political perspective - there's no real doubt that the Democratic National Convention took a sizeable bite out of Trump's post-RNC polling boost, at least for the week following its conclusion. As of August 3, Clinton now leads by more than eight points nationally according to RCP, and her momentum doesn't appear to be faltering, at least for the time being. Let's look back the most interesting moments from the DNC: The first three nights of the DNC were largely uncontroversial, with keynote speeches from Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Tim Kaine, and Barack Obama receiving generally positive reviews but not leaving any particularly noticeable impressions. The first truly newsworthy moment of the convention came on the fourth night, when Khizr Khan - the father of a United States Army Captain who was killed in Iraq - made a speech strongly condemning Donald Trump's foreign policy and proposal to place a ban on Muslim immigration. Khan's speech, along with Trump's controversial rebuke in which he stated that he had "made a lot of sacrifices" as part of his business dealings, was likely the most remarkable moment of the convention and almost certainly aided Clinton's boost in the polls that began to manifest itself after the DNC's end. Personally, I was fortunate enough to travel to Philadelphia during the week of the DNC and see Khan's speech - along with those of Biden, Kaine, Obama, Clinton, and the rest of the Democratic convention medley - myself. Despite having to sit in literally the back row of the entire Wells Fargo Center (I could have sworn I would have fallen ten or so rows down if I had tripped while getting to my seat), the passion and excitement of the convention and its speakers amazed me. In my opinion, the most inspiring speech came from Reverend William Barber of North Carolina, whose remarks regarding religion and racism were particularly insightful. Here's a video of his full DNC speech, courtesy of C-SPAN: While at the DNC, I was also able to meet Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and Representative John Lewis of Georgia, among others. Not to brag, of course. :P
Next month, we'll likely be taking a look at the first of the three presidential debates, which is set to take place on September 26. Thanks for reading!
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