what i think is different about the republican party is race. , if you go back to 1956, eisenhower gets almost 40 percent of african-american votes. then it drops to seven percent with goldwater. so for the remainder of that time, the party spent most of its energies talking to white voters. so i think that the diversity in the democratic party has given it a strength that we don't have in the republican party and has given it a dynamic ability to change that we don't have in the republican party. >> it's true. i mean, the republican party, as you and i both know, has become less diverse and more monolithic. it's bome older and whiter and more rural. but i'm glad you point to race because, i mean, race is one of the things that you spent a lot of time on in your book. and i think a lot of republicans, especially in the trump era, have spent a lot of time reflecting about. so let's go to your book. your first experience as a political operative in the republican party was working for a mississippi congressional candidate. and you openly admit that

his new book, "it was all a lie: how the republican party became donald trump." plus, we will look at an issue overlooked at the republican national convention -- climate. the climate-fueled wildfires engulfing california, where crews are currently battling 625 fires that have killed at least seven people. we will speak to a formerly incarcerated firefighter. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org. we are brereaking with conventi. i'm amy goodman.n. the republican natioional convention opened in charlotte, north carorolina, with dire warnings from prpresident trump and his s backers that a joeoe n presidency could destroy thehe coununtry. trump began ththe convention claimingng without any evidence democrats were trying to steal the election. pres. trump: the only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election. we're going to win this election. amy: little attention was paid on the opening day of the republican national convention to the over 177,000 americans who have died during the covid-19 pandem

i worry about the republican party. be a strong party you need to tolerate differences of opinion. i do not see much of that coming out of the convention or i do not think much of it has, out of the white house over the last 3.5 years. >> are you worried about your party, tom davis? >> i am not worried about it. as we take a look at coalitions, i am worried about our performance in some suburban areas and i think we need to spread our wings out there and be more inclusive in these areas. i actually think the convention tonight, that the speaker from a cuban refugee that you had several immigrants speaking, several african-americans of some prominence -- comfortable in the republican party. they need more voices like that and more diverse forces. they made a start tonight. we see how it goes the next three days. it is not the republican message that is as bad is they need a wider variety of messengers. i think they hit that tonight. we will see that theme over the next four days. know you said, tom davis, your first conv

of pope from the specific change made -- we will adjourn today with the rules of the republican party in the same form as amended by the republican on july 20, 2018. the official rules of the republican party. the rules will be considered adopted as of today. the rules of the republican party by the 2020 republican national convention, august when he 4, 2020. the chair now recognizes the delegate from washington from the purpose -- for the purpose of making a motion. jeff kent,rman, i am delegate from washington state. under the emergency procedures set forth under rule 37-numeral e, we will not be adopting an adoptionersion of the of the rules of the republican party until the convention in 2024. however, the republic test republican national committee will update as needed. i moved to strike the following clause from rule 12 -- "no subject shall be adopted -- no a member shall be adopted after september of 2018," and replace it with, "no such rule will be adopted after september 30 two years prior to the year in which the next national convention is to be held. the delegate from was

certainly of any industrialized country why wouldn't that matter to trump space i think the republican party is just a split as the democratic party and the voices that we just heard from are you know certainly one extreme wing of the party but they're also interested in social issues so you know the question of abortion on the question of sort of religious freedom for christians those things play a larger role and they ignore the distasteful tweets they ignore the fact that president trump has cut taxes for the you know one percent in the united states and not necessarily help working class white people in the united states and is also trying to leave that he's delivered for them on the social issues on the so-called culture wars rougher and can. president trump when by appealing to his base alone well he did it last time. and as i said a couple times before. dawn comes also the outcome of the administration obama and biden and a lot of democrats are dissatisfied with was there actually what they claimed and finally fulfilled so yes it worked last time and probably the mobilization of the r

how do you see the republican party, just the republican party, not the democrat.see the republican party now compared to the past years, 20, 40, 50 years ago it still in the relationship as it was in 1932? steve: my feeling from talking to the delegates, they have emerged through the process to represent their constituencies, these are people who are small businessmen. these are people who are farmers. they tended to represent suburban and rural communities. they tend to be housewives more than professional women. this, the hard core of the party, the idea that the republican party once represented big business wall street, the eastern establishment doesn't seem to be true anymore. the international businessman can be comfortable or more comfortable indeed in the democratic party. richard: i suppose that's true, you can see the leadership and direction of public policy which he finds very congenial. howard: there is a considerable shift in these 40 years in the source of republican support because in 1936, the republican support from the trade union level or worki

stevens chose for the title of his new book, "it was all a lie," it is the story of how the republican party became donald trump. stuart stevens has spent most of his working life as a campaign strategist trying to elect republicans including republican presidents. he won most of the campaigns he was involved with. the last presidential campaign he ran was mitt romney's. he opposed donald trump's candidacy from the start and as he watched him succeed in his party stewart stevens began to realize every good thing he believed about the republican party was a lie. it was all a lie. stewart stevens will join us at the end of this hour for his professional analysis of the debut of the democratic ticket, and we will discuss stewart's new book which traces 50 years of republicans' coded campaigning on race which eventually led to donald trump's blatant racism that will surely become even more blatant as the first black woman on a major party ticket campaigns against donald trump. donald trump lives in fear of prosecutors every single day. he is under a criminal investigation right now by the distri

the republican party kind of from 1932 up until the late '70s doesn't have a coherent philosophy. the democrats have a coherent philosophy and they're also the party of optimism, the party of hope, the party of the future. frankly roosevelt runs for president, you know, and happy days are here again and john kennedy says we need to get this country moving again. the democratic party from '32 until basically '76 and beyond is the party of hope, optimism of the future and the republican party is the green eye shade, eat your spinach, balance the budget party. >> right. >> and their message is basically metooism. that was what lot of conservatives eaccused modernism of the time is metooism. we can manage government better than the democrats. we'll just do it better. that was their pitch. it wasn't very inspirational pitch, obviously. which is why they're in the minority from '32 up until '68 and even beyond actually because '68 was an aberration. so, but reagan comes forward and the early leaders of the conservative movement like bill buck and others have a coherent message that was b

the republican party is the green i spate green eyeshade, eat your spinach, balance the budget party and their message is basically metoo-ism. there were a lot of conservative accusing moderate republicans of all the time, metoo-ism. we can manage better than the democrats, we can do a better. that was basically their pitch, it wasn't very inspirational pitch, obviously. which is why they are in the minority from 32 up until 68 and even beyond. 68 was an aberration. reagan comes forward, the early leaders of the conservative movement like bill buckley and others, have a coherent message that was based on the framers, based on the founders, based on the constitution, which had been cast aside or at least put on the sidelines from 32 on. we're reaching an era now, i have to go backwards, from 32 to the sixties, most americans believe that government is working, and government is working for them. it didn't solve the great depression but it did a good effort and people appreciated it. but it did defeat the empire of japan. it did defeat nazi germany, it did build the interstate highway s

and so the question is, could there be another republican party after trump? er this generation of republican leaders might we see one because i don't believe a republican party under in generation of republican leaders, my former colleagues, is one that can be trusted even after a trump presidency. >> one of the things in terms of whether people remain silent or they actually speak up, an opportunity could provide itself -- present itself tonight because take a look at this tweet from kaylee mcen enny. news conference at 6:00 p.m. tonight concerning a major therapeutic breakthrough on the -- i'm not even going to say it because it's racist. secretary azar and dr. hawn will be in attendance. what on earth could he possibly say at 6:00 p.m. tonight about a therapeutic whatever that should garner national attention? >> you know, i would absolutely love nothing more than if tonight donald trump could stand at the podium and announce that, yes, there's a miracle cure for coronavirus. do i think that's going to happen? no. i think it's going to be more of the same o

the republican party is the green eye shade, ear spanish, balance the budget party. their message is basically metoo-ism. a lot of conservatives accuse moderate republicans that of metoo isn't. we can manage government better than that the democrats. that was that was basically their pitch and it wasn't particularly inspirational of course. that is why they were in the minority fourth from 1932 until 1968 and even beyond. because 68 was an aberration. but reagan comes forward and the early leaders of the conservative movement have a coherent message that was based on the framework, based on the founders, based in the constitution. that in kind of costs cast aside, or put on the sidelines for 1932 on. we're reaching an era, i have to go backwards. from 32 until the sixties, most americans believe the government is working and government is working for them. it didn't solve the great depression but it did make a good great effort and people appreciate. adapted to defeat the empire of japan, it to defeat nazi germany, did bill public education, roads. at one point we had

republican party have to deal with the republican party as it is and those who have been big supportersf trump and so try to bring them together as much as you can based on common consensus issues. for example, republicans used to be -- have an agenda of fiscal responsibility. where is that going? >> yeah. >> that's a joke today. >> right. >> free trade. international engagement. smart government. that's all gone. there is no agenda or philosophical base. so, yes, sass and others are going to have to deal with that trump base and all other republicans. so i can understand. they can't get too far out on any of this because i quite frankly think after this is over, and i think biden is going to win, that they're's going toe recriminations. i think it will be politically still polarized in this country for a while. this won't change january 20th with a new president who will be reaching out. i know joe's style, he'll try to expand and build consensus, that is going to take some time. >> it is. chuck hagel, former defense secretary in the obama administration, long-time republican senator f

according to the president, that's the future of the republican party and the future star of the republican party, i think you-all are a very different party than under regan. >> that is not the future of the republican party. >> okay. i'm just listening to the president. >> that's a conspiracy theory to believe in. trust me, that in my opinion is not the future of the republican party. >> i hope not. that's what the president said. >>> we're moments away from hearing from colin powell and would be first lady jill biden caps the night and a revealing interview with her on her reluctance to say yes when joe biden popped the question. it's starting to happen every day. people are surprising themselves the moment realize they can du more with less asthma. thanks to dupixent, the add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. dupixent isn't for sudden breathing problems. it can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. it's not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. dupixent can cause serious

. >> so many african-american speakers this week disproportionate to their membership in the republican party and certainly in the trump administration. so much of this seems geared toward trying to convince people that despite the fact that so many americans think that president trump is racist to be frank. he's not. we keep hearing people who are african-american who know the president and are saying, i wish you could see the trump that i see. >> yeah. and as you've said it is sort of asking people to not believe what they are experiencing and it is a challenge but there are also questions about whether this is really aimed at african-americans so much as it might be aimed at white americans, white women who are concerned about seeming like they are contributing to racial strife by supporting president trump. so it is obviously, you can see it in all these different speakers, they've taken great care to find as many voices as they can to speak to this. people who know the president. people who don't. and their stories are important and notable but we should also say as you said it is not ac

a vacuum in the republican party after. it had after the bush presidency and the iraq war and the financial and the financial crisis of 20082009 jeb bush who was the lead get t. the eric to that party. trump pushed aside that party had sort of ceased to exist and trump appealed. to base instincts that had always been there in the country. without the dog whistle without the codewords he was and what appealed to those people was precisely the harshness and roughness of it against what they perceived as cosmopolitan ainley who they hated all of this goes back to the transformation radicalization of the republican party a process of decades that went back to its co-optation the king of the constituency and campaign george. wallace in the 18th in the 1960 s. and ninety's early 1970 s. when he ran a racist campaigns and the southern strategy to co-opt that movement in the republican party led to its being in effect taken over by it and now ironically in a way this new york real estate. failure bankrupt who is nothing but a veneer

for the past 4 years donald trump has been radically reshaping the republican party and his image and with his trump brand in the party's convention this week he decided to speak every night bucking the tradition where the candidate accepts the party's nomination on the last night usually lots of confetti and balloons at that crescendo he's also stuff the keynote speeches with family members branding the convention as a trump a vent and less of a political party of education but what happens if you're a republican but you find his policies or his leadership or his character distasteful is trump really a conservative and under his leadership what does the republican party stand for joining me today is someone who worked directly with president trump banker and hedge fund manager anthony scar muchi was famously the white house communications director for 11 days in 2700 anthony thanks so much for joining us you have posted an extraordinary tweet which is rare for a republican of your stature and you said a vote for joe biden could save the republican party how what are you communicating

and certainly of any industrialized country why would that matter to term space i think the republican party is just a split of the democratic party and the voices that we just heard from are you know certainly one extreme wing of the party but they're also interested in social issues so you know the question of abortion and the question of sort of religious freedom for christians those thing play a larger role and they ignore the distasteful tweets they ignore the fact that president trump has cut taxes for the you know one percent in the united states and not necessarily help working class white people in the united states and is also trying to strip away obamacare right and also that hurts people with preexisting conditions so there's a lot of. pocker say but i think that they believe that he's delivered for them on the social issues on the so-called culture wars rougher and can president trump win by appealing to his base alone well he did it last time which is. as i said a couple times before. dawn comes also the outcome of the administration obama and biden and a lot of democrats are d

and certainly of any industrialized country why would that matter to trump space i think the republican party is just a split of the democratic party and the voices that we just heard from are you know certainly one extreme wing of the party but they're also interested in social issues so you know the question of abortion the question of sort of religious freedom for christians those thing play a larger role and they ignore the distasteful tweets they ignore the fact that president trump has cut taxes for the you know one percent in the united states and not necessarily help working class white people in the united states and is also trying to strip away obamacare right and also that hurts people with preexisting conditions so there's a lot of. pocker say but i think that they believe that he's delivered for them on the social issues on the so-called culture wars rougher and can president trump win by appealing to his base alone well he did it last time. and as i said a couple times before. dawn comes also the outcome of the administration obama and biden and a lot of democrats are dissatisfi

certainly of any industrialized country why wouldn't that matter to trump space i think the republican party is just a split of the democratic party and the voices that we just heard from are you know certainly one extreme wing of the party but they're also interested in social issues so you know the question of abortion the question of sort of religious freedom for christians those thing play a larger role and they ignore the distasteful tweets they ignore the fact that president trump has cut taxes for the you know one percent in the united states and not necessarily help working class white people in the united states and is also trying to strip away obamacare right and also that hurts people with preexisting conditions so there's a lot of. have pocker say but i think that they believe that he's delivered for them on the social issues on the so-called culture wars rougher and can president trump win by appealing to his base alone well he did it last time. as i said a couple times before. dawn times also the outcome of the administration obama and biden and a lot of democrats were dissatis

that's what the republican party is now. and it wasn't that years ago. ot of its policy positions but it was a coherent political party that had ideals and had policies. and now it has whatever flitz across donald trump's consciousness and what he sees in a given evening on fox news. and whatever he thinks is going to give him an advantage. that's the philosophy of the republican party. >> yeah, and you know, i misspoke before when i was saying how, you know, how low can donald trump go. i'm not surprised by how low the guy goes. i think what shocks me the most is how low his party allows him to go when it only requires three republicans in the united states senate to stand up for conservative values for republican values for democratic values and just vote no. and just stop him from doing what he's doing. but i think that is what has shocked me the most is people that i know, people that i worked with in the past they sit by quietly and allow him to do that where none of us, i guess, at this point are surprised by anything donald trump would do . i said

in 2010, 50% of the republican party was white working-class voters. flash forward a decade later to a party the president has remade in his image, 59% is white working-class voters according to the wall street journal and nbc news poll from last week. tom: what is important is how the president treats tonight. behis morning notes, will it fire and brimstone or will it give us any kind of vision forward? kevin: his temperament will be much more stoic in tone with a few flashes of quintessential donald trump tone. it comes at a time when the president and his allies feel that they have the longer-term momentum on their side given the buoy by the stock market, buoyed andaccination approval, they feel that on the issue of reopening schools and on the , they have the side of the public. ofa: every time the subject violence on the streets of america comes up, the republicans and president trump pivot to a conversation on law and order. it must play strongly with the base of supporters. kevin: it does. they are offering this critique in saying the democratic

the republican party has an extremely well-funded vote by mail program. your campaign puts out emails telling people to vote by mail. >> correct. >> your daughter-in-law lara trump said it's safe and secure, mail-in voting. >> let me tell you, we had no choice. >> the president has been spewing this anti-mail-in voting propaganda for weeks and seems to have realized it might be a problem in florida. florida is always an important state, but this year it will be an especially important position. the polls close relatively early in florida on election night, 7:00 p.m. eastern, and that state typically counts mail-in ballots quickly. so add it up together, if joe biden wins in florida, if they were to say early in the night joe biden wins florida, it will be difficult for donald trump to win the presidency. almost impossible. and an election where you see a big increase in mail-in ballots. just look at what the mail-in voting has been in florida. ahead of the august 18th primary, democrats lead by 11 points. a complete flip from the 2016 primary when republi

republicans. so he has shrunk the party. have not have tracted african-americans in any number, which is a huge, huge failure of the party. but we admitted it was a failure, and we tried to aspire to something better. now trump is just comfortable with this. so the party is getting smaller. and there's really not a future for that party in a changing america as it is now. >> trevor: where do you go back to? is it about defeating donald trump and then going back to the republican party and then continuing many of the policies that have helped create donald trump? or is there another way? because that's the one thing that i'm left with is what do you go to and where do your many fellow never-trumpers go trumpes to if the poison is still within the party even if trump is not in the white house? >> well, we're going to fight trumpism in all its forms, which i think is really fighting for american democracy. there's really three parties in america now, the republican party which is basically a party that says no to everything, the

certainly of any industrialized country why wouldn't that matter to trump space i think the republican party is just a split of the democratic party and the voices that we just heard from are you know certainly one extreme wing of the party but they're also interested in social issues so you know the question of abortion and the question of sort of religious freedom for christians those things play a larger role and they ignore the distasteful tweets they ignore the fact that president trump has cut taxes for the you know one percent in the united states and not necessarily help working class white people in the united states and is also trying to strip away obamacare right and also that hurts people with preexisting conditions so there's a lot of. pocker say but i think that they believe that he's delivered for them on the social issues on the so-called culture wars rougher and can president trump win by appealing to his base alone well he did it last time. and as i said a couple times before. dawn comes also the outcome of the administration obama and biden and a lot of democrats are dissa

the republican party has done isn't very effectively during this convention. you know painting a picture of the unrest that we're seeing in cities like an ocean for instance. as the type of chaos that would be coming to the suburbs suburbs here being a doc whistle for obviously. you know prosperity. and mainly white voters ok joined by you know as a whole was in washington d.c. as well in as your take away from that. but you know i'm standing here in front of the washington monument the white house behind the fireworks are going in this is a 2nd one from one to he presented himself in the white house making several references to the place where here he delivered this speech and we have to keep in mind that this is totally unprecedented and there are like there's a huge controversy if he's even going out to do that because normally there is a really clear. between politics and governmental boards being allowed to be hold in the white house well i'm sure that that was the nobody disputes but i do agree this speech delivered the purpose. of. the important point.

in nevada, the state republican party and republican national committee sued officials in june in part of their plan to mail absentee ballots to, quote, inactive voters. and president trump threatened further legal action after the governor of that state, serve sisolak, signed a bill ensuring that all of the citizens can vote by mail in november, a very common sense approach when it might be dangerous to go to the polls. in fact, the rnc now lists a total of 17 state where is they and the trump campaign are engaged in legal battles related to mail-in ballots. of course, assaulting the integrity of the elections, making sure people can vote. this is a full, concerted effort by the entire trump administration and crucially the republican party, whether they like trump or not or they roll their eyes or not or think he's uncouth. the whole party to undermine the legitimacy of the election, to cast aspersions on voting by mail and for actually attempt preventing people from voting by mail while we're in a deadly pandemic that has killed almost 160,000 of our federal americans. above all els

try and reconstitute grapple with all things donald trump because this doesn't seem to be the republican partyng with his family and others speaking at this. he owns this party. the republican party as we have all noted, the three of us all theseis all noted, the three of us all these is really gone. i want to move these is really gone. i want to m ove o nto these is really gone. i want to move onto a new point to. one thing we didn't mention is that if donald trump wins in november, then we may well see afamily november, then we may well see a family member of his with political ambitions for the white house. yes, what hundred %.i white house. yes, what hundred %. i guess that would be what his eldest son... donald junior. or ivanka. i have got a long winded question i'm going to try and paraphrase. i was reading that the lack of crowds made is that the speakers at both conventions are actually getting through their speeches incredibly quickly because they don't have to pause for applause, they don't have to do that thing with a point to people in the audience and pretend they have seen peopl

blaine's and the republican party. guests are waiting for me in the reception room and they will be my guess throughout the program. i will show you a clip from a round table discussion that we hosted. they discuss james g. blaine and his time. >> 1884 against cleveland. ironically, in 1876, it was b laine who prevented ulysses grant from making a comeback and winning a third term. >> besides being secretary of state for james garfield and chester arthur -- >> he was secretary of state under three presidents. >> what else did he do? >> he was a speaker of the house. he was a governor. >> he changed some of the rules in the house. the speakers are always changing the rules somewhat to their advantage is. >> this was after the civil war when congress was much more central, much more potent than it had been. their reaction against the strong executive said in. to be the secret -- the speaker of the house, to be a power in congress meant a lot more fun than it would today. >> do you have anything to say? >> what do you thi

the very bestght of the republican party, the best of this country. will see that over the next three days. that will benefit not only the president that can benefit republicans as the contrast starts to play out between people who love this country and want to make a better and the other party that is focused on defeating one president and shares disdain for this country the rest of america does not have. reid: talking about some of those target districts. counterpart your last week she was talking about the seats that are in suburban areas in districts that basically cost republicans the house of representatives two years ago in 2018. one of the architect districts that you are targeting in those critical battleground states? >> look, those same suburban districts are going to make or break majorities this year in places all across the country. then when you look at states like iowa, pennsylvania, critical places we need to hold, there is some great pickup opportunities in the rural districts where democrats have become out of touch. driftedonal par

stephen: to some degree in the republican party, we see a tired party.has been in office for eight years. we have been through watergate and so forth. some of that just loss of momentum is coming out, while the democrats, the party activists are sensing victory this year. you feel the momentum shifting. i think. richard: i think this is true. i think you could see it in the primaries, you can see it in the voters, you can see it in the delegation. you'll probably see it at the conventions when they meet. it is interesting you know, at the beginning of the year before these primaries start, we estimated we would have a very, very tough fight in the democratic party. and that the republican party would be almost a foregone conclusion, a rather quiet coronation of president ford, but it certainly has not worked out that way. stephen: it has been a bad year for us political commentators. that is for sure. think of the things we said at the beginning of the year. richard: some things were right, we mustn't admit defeat. [laughter] let's look at some of the pe

in joining us is janel king, a rising star in the republican party and is currently co-founder of georgiapeaks, approachative meant to -- do a kitchen type style. i was interested in the news last week that roughly two dozen haver republican members signed on the biden campaigned. they have endorsed joe biden. in 2016, you voted for a third party. are you going to support joe biden in 2020 or president trump or a third party? >> good morning and many thanks to "the hill." i decided that my best contribution to democracy these days argie to speak the objective truth, either through my work as an analyst and .ontributor i think there is a major truth crisis in this country where there is a tribal is asian crisis in our country. country. zation crisisibali in our country. i am not going to be campaigning for either candidate. i will not be endorsing either candidate and i will not be discussing what i do with my boat. >> how do you think last night went? and say it went dark republicans coming into the convention said if trump is going to win, he has to make this choice, not a referendum. wh

it indicates a shift away from the republican party because of president trump. ents ago, some republicans, very few, have taken a stand publicly against trump's unseemly or illegal or corrupt behavior in office and his embrace of racists and bigots. joining me now is former republican sir michael singleton. he's the co-host of the speak easy podcast. also with me, rick tyler who you she mention remains with the gop as a republican strategist, political analysts, and the author of a book still right. welcome to both of you. thank you for being with us. shermichael, let me start with you. what made you leave the republican party? >> you know, ali, what made me leave was one of my favorite quotes from aristotle that he writes in book three of the politics, that virtues that are moral and intellectual ability are necessity for an stroid yield power. and i reached a point where i recognized that the president of the united states is not consistent with those values. and those are the values that are necessary for a democracy, a free society, to thrive. so it back clea

republican party.orking on legislation to take politics out of the post office. it shouldn't be a political appointment or reward for political operatives like mr. dunkin' and mr. dejoy. >> you speak of republicans, and the senate also has to have a word here on the bill and it doesn't seem that they're interested in each even coming back to work, even passing it. i want you to listen to senator rand paul of kentucky suggesting maybe the postal service should deliver less mail. >> instead of assessing people more of a postal charge if they live 20 miles down a dirt road, simply just have less frequent delivery. and i think that alone would be tolerable and still have personal service but it would be less frequent. i think you can make up for a large amount of your shortfall if you went below five days for some very rural areas. >> he was basically saying that maybe rural mail deliveries should actually be less frequent. maybe people who are rural even in his own state i presume should not get mail five