Trump’s show on law and order

Michael K. McIntyre, The ( Cleveland) Plain Dealer: “Monday, the theme was, ‘ Make America Safe Again.’ Safe from whom? Are we less safe now than we’ve been in the past? And what would make America safer? ... Donald Trump has linked immigration to safety, stating that Mexico was sending criminals to the United States. Some immigrants have committed serious crimes, but the available statistics say first- generation immigrants, from all over the world, are far less likely to do so than are native- born Americans.” William Whalen,

Fox News: “In 2004, a GOP convention in New York City, dovetailing with George W. Bush’s re- election campaign, had a singular focus: national security. Bush being a wartime president and Manhattan one of the 9/ 11 targets, it made perfect sense. Monday’s overarching theme ... featured a host of speakers who tore into Hillary Clinton and her party as soft on terrorism and responsible for America losing face on the world stage. Twelve years ago, the Bush campaign entrusted the likes of Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Michael Bloomberg to make the GOP’s case. In 2016, and this being Trump’s show, the honors went not so much to politicians as to emissaries from the victim class: Pat Smith, mother of Sean Smith, killed in the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya; Kent Terry and Kelly Terry- Willis, siblings of Brian Terry, a Border Patrol agent whose shooting death revealed the ‘ Fast and Furious’ gun- smuggling operation; Karen Vaughn, mother of a Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan. Benghazi and ‘ Fast and Furious’ are topics that inflame the right — in part, because the mainstream media have moved on. Does reliving both episodes move the needle for Trump? Wait for the post- convention polls. But at a minimum, it was refreshing to see non- politicians speak from personal experience.” Laura Washington,

Chicago Sun- Times: “Trump has been honing a ‘ law and order’ campaign theme. ... It’s a provocative message that will rally Trump followers, from angry working- class white males to racist supremacists. ... It’s a message that lays the groundwork for incendiary conflicts among the dozens of interest groups descending on Cleveland. Republicans may stay away, but they can’t escape the consequences.”