PD Editorial: Anti-Hillary theme of Republican National Convention was over the top

Can fear and vitriol lead to victory in a presidential election? American voters are about to find out.

To be sure, the 2016 Republican National Convention will be remembered for many things: from a failed last-minute attempt to block Donald Trump from sealing the nomination to plagiarism in the speech of Melania Trump to the tactlessness of Sen. Ted Cruz who took advantage of his podium time Wednesday to shun his party candidate. Instead of endorsing Trump, he sought to lay the foundation for another run in four years - and, in the process, laid an egg.

It was as unconventional a convention as one can remember. The discord in the GOP was evident not just in the words of those who spoke but in the absence of those who didn’t bother to attend. The list of no-shows included the party’s last two presidents, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and its last two presidential nominees, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

But there was one unifying theme to be heard time and again each night, a message that was central to Trump’s acceptance speech Thursday night. That is, Hillary Clinton is a liar. Hillary Clinton is corrupt. Hillary Clinton should be in prison - or worse.

“This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness,” Trump said in a dark 73-minute acceptance speech that put the emphasis on the nation’s woes - from violent crime to economic troubles - and Clinton’s alleged responsibility for its misery. The anti-Hillary vitriol was pervasive all week and reached a fevered pitch on Wednesday when Al Baldasaro, an adviser to the Trump campaign, called Clinton a “piece of garbage” and said she should be executed for failing to take action during the 2012 attacks in Benghazi that left four Americans dead. “Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason,” he said.

Such verbiage is reckless and irresponsible. It also assures this convention will be remembered both for its missed opportunities and its words of menace. For all its internal challenges, the Republican Party had a chance to galvanize voters by showcasing Trump’s solutions and policies and by making a case for how he was going to “make America great again.” But Trump and his team opted instead to focus on why voters should reject Clinton, providing far more invective than evidence in the process.

There were exceptions. Donald Trump’s son, Eric, offered a stirring personal account of his father as candidate on Wednesday, emphasizing his dad’s passion for helping others. “None of us could have predicted the records he would break, the stadiums he would fill, the movement he would start,” Eric Trump said. And vice presidential candidate Gov. Mike Pence showed himself to be one of the few adults in the room with a speech that included some self-deprecating humor. “(Trump’s) a man known for his large personality, his colorful style and his charisma,” Pence said. “And, well, I guess he was looking for someone to balance the ticket.”

But beyond that, viewers were treated to mostly venom and pompousness amid all the pomp and circumstance. And it does not bode well for what lies ahead between now and Nov. 8.