As the Republican National Convention kicks off Monday, former President Donald Trump's campaign stands at a critical juncture. His core supporters remain steadfast. But winning will require the former president to broaden his appeal to the undecided or voters underwhelmed by his maiden term. He must convince them they will be better off after four more years with Trump.
Start with swing voters, who proved decisive in Trump's narrow 2020 defeats in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin. Trump needs to tell them he will get them jobs, slash their taxes, and make their small businesses flourish. He should remind them the economy boomed under his leadership.
Trump can attract voters concerned about crime and public safety by promising to detain, punish and deport the tens of thousands of terrorists and drug traffickers illegally crossing our borders to kill and rape civilians and create mayhem generally. But the Aristotelean mean is essential. He needs to promise an end to racial disparities in law enforcement and root out police with a too-ready finger on the gun. Black male voters can be attracted by holding out a Trump welcome sign.
The GOP has long treasured the environment, beginning with Teddy Roosevelt's love affair with hunting bison in the Dakotas. Without a flourishing and clean environment, there will be no animals to hunt, and no fish to catch. Younger voters, however, are alarmed over climate change that could spike the incidence of drought, hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and coastal housing disappearing under rising tides. Trump can assuage their fears by promising a moonshot to stop global warming through cold fusion that will not diminish the economic riches of his core supporters.
In the realm of foreign policy and national security, Trump should showcase the Abraham Accords, which promised to end Israeli-Arab hostility, and incomplete initiatives to end North Korea's growing arsenal of nuclear weapons and rockets. Contrasting success stories with the vacillations of the current administration will project Trump as a global colossus. Additionally, Trump should explain that illegal immigration was reduced to a trickle on his watch but with compassion for women and children fleeing rape and violence.
To transcend his base, Trump must electrify all Americans -- the rich and the poor, the old and the young, the tall and the short, the rotund and the skinny. His agenda must be forward-looking, made credible by past awesome accomplishments. Trump should promise limitless jobs, upward social mobility, domestic harmony and fraternity, and an end to politics of personal destruction.
Trump needs to upgrade his communications skills. His combative, gladiatorial rhetoric alienates the moderate center. Statesmen find a good word to say about everyone. This does not mean abandoning his signature style but blending it with respect for adversaries or doubting Thomases.
Trump must remember to combine a mix of traditional and digital platforms to maximize his audience reach with messages that command universal applause.
Trump can't afford to leave out suburban women, minority communities, and young voters. That means he must speak to them in their languages and promise to remedy all their grievances, like making students literate and intellectually challenged through school choice and curriculum reform that restores the classics as the centerpiece. Parents will be thrilled and excited. Similarly, minority voters will respond to promises of lucrative incentives for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The GOP convention is a wonderful opportunity for Trump to convince voters across the political spectrum to vote for him. He needs to tell them what they want to hear and to say what he needs to say to save the country from self-ruination by globalists, socialists, and atheists.
It's a winning hand earmarked by inclusivity, pragmatism, and a gentle touch.
Armstrong Williams is the manager/sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the Year.