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CLEVELAND — The activities continued at the Republican National Convention for our Connecticut delegation on Wednesday morning at a slightly slower pace. This was a welcome relief, especially considering the exciting way that Tuesday evening ended with nomination of Donald Trump!
We started off Wednesday with a relaxing break and a cruise along the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie, giving us a different view of the Cleveland skyline. We were treated to a short history lesson on the origins of Cleveland as the City of Bridges. I have to say that our delegation has been very impressed with Cleveland, its facilities and overall cleanliness.
We reconvened for dinner at The Chocolate Bar, a downtown restaurant. The highlight was a speech from former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, who focused on national security, the turmoil in the Middle East and Turkey and the importance of U.S. support for Israel. After a short stop for a group picture, we went over to the Quicken Loans Arena for the evening's activities.
The list of speakers Wednesday evening was the most impressive of the week. Florida Gov. Rick Scott started out, with Laura Ingraham following with one of the best speeches thus far. Lynne Patton, an African-American employee of the Trump Foundation and assistant to EricTrump, gave a very moving speech along with words from Eric Trump himself.
But the big news of the night was Sen. Ted Cruz's unwillingness to keep his pledge from the debates and endorse Trump as the Republican nominee for president. Cruz speech began by congratulating Trump on the nomination, but then the mood changed when he suggested people "vote their conscious." That was the keyword used by those wanting to unbind the delegates earlier in the week and upend the Trump candidacy.
Cruz was literally booed off the stage by the vast majority of those in the hall. I've never seen anything like it! I spoke to dozens of delegates (some previous Cruz supporters) who were livid with his antics and now view him as totally self-serving. While some media reports say this highlights the "split" in the Republican Party, I can tell you that many people felt that Cruz ended his political career Wednesday night. If anyone had taken a poll from the convention, Cruz might have scored just slightly higher than Hillary Clinton!
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence finished up the night with a resounding acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination. He brought the hall back together and was rewarded with numerous chants of "We Like Mike!" Pence has resounding support from the convention and is obviously a man of exceptional character and forms a great combination with Trump.
Thursday night, Donald J. Trump takes the stage to accept the Republican nomination for president. I would wager that this may be the most-watched political acceptance speech in history. The mood in the convention hall will be electric!
— Bob Ferguson
Weston RTC Chairman
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