The RNC, two years later

Two years ago, I covered the Republican National Convention for The Washington Post. I arrived the same day that then-Senator JD Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate. Naturally, every other conversation with RNC attendees started with “do you know who you look like?”

I did not have a ton of conversations, if any, with worried or skeptical Republicans. The convention began just two days after the attempted assassination on former-soon-to-be-future-President Trump. People weren’t just confident Trump was going to win, it was like they were already celebrating. I remember a handy tool the Post was using at the time that showed, based on the polling error margin from 2020, every single swing state was leaning towards Trump. Of course, that’s exactly what happened.

Fast-forward two years later. I’m not attending the convention. But the coverage is entirely different. There’s some desperation, $5,000 bribes, and an updated Pledge of Allegiance. We’ll get to that later.

For now, let’s talk about the premiere of our new weekly long-form show THIS WEEK on YouTube.

Our promotion of “What’s Your Source?” the last week or so has not been subtle. But in case you did miss it, here’s our sneak preview.

I’ve gotten pretty good at explaining our show to potential ad partners the last few months. Here are different versions of the pitch, for better or worse:

As you can imagine, it’s not easy to pitch, but once people see the proof of product, they get it. I’m excited for all of you to watch it.

Also, don’t worry, we’ll still have our regular short videos. We’ve hired some people to help me make this show while I keep doing my weird daily costume changes in the background.

Finally, as a reminder, if you’re a paying member, you get it a day early on Thursday evening!

For the first time all year, I walked into a costume store for something other than my job. We came to figure out our family costumes for Halloween. Immediately, our daughter singled out a Ginny SuperKitties costume.

Believe it or not, they don’t sell adult SuperKitty costumes. There’s not even an adult costume for Lab Rat or Champster Glamster. So, we’re building them ourselves, piece by piece, spandex suit by kitty cat mask. I will be the SuperKitty named Buddy because, as my daughter lovingly puts it, “you are big.”

I grew up on casual dining chains like Applebee’s, Chili’s and Outback Steakhouse (with Australian food like the totally authentic Bloomin’ Onion that every Australian definitely ate growing up around the boomerang-shaped dinner table). They’re all fine, though I do think they’ve suffered from a sameness. There’s no texture in those restaurants anymore. Fewer and fewer Applebee’s have random pictures of the local softball team framed on the wall behind your booth. The wooden table and sort-of-leather booths are 90% more plastic. The lighting isn’t as warm and moody. I personally detest the smell of cigarettes, and yet … I long for the faint smell drifting from the smoking section.

There are plenty of articles on this, including this decade-old one on the absolute destruction of any personality at T.G.I. Fridays. But I’m not here to be a downer, not today. I want to talk about the restaurant that benefited from this new-age America. The one that took this new style of restaurants and perfected it. I’m talking, of course, about Red Robin (yum!).

We visited this last weekend after many years away from the establishment. Growing up, this chain was only just beginning to populate around the corners of Kansas City. It’s still not as common as Applebee’s, but we have them. And wow! What a treat. 

(As I often feel the need to say in the “what I’m eating” section of this newsletter, this is NOT an ad. Just a quickly aging millennial dad writing about his recent restaurant obsession.)

At our location, before you’re even seated, you settle into a waiting area lined with claw machines. But these are the claw machines that actually grant prizes more than 1 in 20 times. One was filled with rubber duckies of all kinds. You know who loves rubber duckies of all kinds? My kid. Do you know what we did while waiting for ten minutes? Fished for duckies.

Once seated, we were handed menus. Folks, this isn’t the Cheesecake Factory. Red Robin knows what it is and what it isn’t. The menu is pretty small. If Nicole Kidman comes to AMC for magic, we come to Red Robin for burgers and fries. And guess what? Those fries? They’re bottomless. Fear not, the kids menu has some healthy sides too — even the broccoli is bottomless. 

The burgers came quickly. The food was devoured. The fries were refilled. Our waiter was busy, so we paid with the little touch screen on the table. This isn’t Applebee’s. It’s Red Robin. It knows why you’re there and it’s not trying to be anything else. And as far as I know, it’s never really changed, just evolved to have those tabletop iPad-paying machines and claw machines up front. 

And yes, I, too, cannot believe I just wrote six paragraphs on Red Robin. What can I say? I like when a restaurant knows exactly what it’s supposed to be.

As a journalist, the years leading up to the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee were rocky.

During 2016 rallies, Trump would point to the press, mock us, and attendees followed suit. They would turn around, flip us off and curse at us. I never felt like I was in danger, per se, but I certainly didn’t feel welcome. At the time, I described those rallies as going to a tailgate and unknowingly wearing the opposing team’s jersey. People just wanted a reason to yell at you.

Then, January 6th happened, and it became less funny and more serious. At the Post, we had to undergo a few hours of safety training before attending the 2024 convention. I flew into Milwaukee, braced for the worst. It didn’t help that it was one of the first real events I’d been to since COVID, having spent most of the previous years building our TikTok account from D.C.

But the crowds in 2024 were very different. All the animosity we had come to expect as members of the press covering Trump events was almost nonexistent. This isn’t to say that some of the card-carrying Trump supporters there didn’t consider us the “enemy of the people,” but it was a far cry from the rallies I covered in 2016. They were hopeful and satisfied. If the press was their perceived enemy, it didn’t matter much anymore because Trump was about to cruise back to office.

Both the external presence — what you were seeing online and reading about — and the internal presence, what it felt like to be there, were in lockstep. This was a political party that felt very much in control. And they were unified, too. Brian Kemp, Georgia’s governor who refused to overturn the 2020 election results for Trump, walked freely at the convention, fielding friendly hellos. January 6th, just 3.5 years in the past, may as well have been decades earlier.

I did not attend the 2026 Republican National Convention in Dallas, so the following comparisons I make here must be made with a grain of salt. But what we’re seeing on TV, and reading from reporters with inside sources, is a very different picture. The victory lap is over.

Gas prices continue to climb. The Iran War is not ending, despite numerous reassurances from President Trump, including his most recent promise that it would end just after midterms (how convenient!). Some Republicans are even beginning to sour on the United States’ relationship with Israel. Remember how many people supposedly voted based solely on the prices of goods going up? Well that’s not looking good either.

As a result, none of the excitement from 2024 came across in the speeches. Worst of all, the president forced attendees into a strange new Pledge of Allegiance to Trump himself, insisted everyone there cheat to win and promised $5,000 to every US adult if Republicans “win.”

For all of the desperation that seemed to come out of Dallas last week, there’s still plenty of conviction. Whether or not you agree with President Trump and Republicans, they rarely backtrack. Speaker Johnson has already gone on TV and said the GOP would try to make the $5,000 checks happen. Meanwhile, Democratic infighting continues, with Senator Fetterman continuing to go rogue and many people still voting against Trump, not for Democrats.

So what does this mean for the near future? The polls really do seem to indicate a potential small blue wave for the midterms in the House, but I really wonder what happens after that. Many of our viewers and readers of this newsletter often write in about feeling disaffected. The lack of enthusiasm for Republicans right now can just as easily be applied to Democrats. I’m curious where you all stand.

If you’re a Republican or Democrat, what needs to happen for you to get excited again about your party? Reply to this email or, if you’re reading this in the YouTube Community tab, email me at [email protected].

And for those reading this from the YouTube Community tab, consider subscribing to this free newsletter at www.LNI.media!

Check out our video on the Medicare negotiation program — our first of a few videos in partnership with AARP.