Capitol View Daily Digest for July 20, 2016

Good morning, we’ve made it to Wednesday already. It was another big night in Cleveland at the Republican Convention, with Donald Trump officially winning the party’s nomination. Day three begins today, and V.P. nominee Mike Pence will speak tonight. So once again let’s go to Cleveland for the Digest.

1. The theme of Tuesday night at the convention was “Make America Work Again,” but most of the speakers used the occasion to criticize Hillary Clinton rather than talk about Trump’s plans for the economy. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was booed by the crowd. House Speaker Paul Ryan got the audience to cheer a call for unity, but he hardly mentioned Donald Trump. Two of Trump’s former rivals for the nomination put the focus on Clinton. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held a mock trial and had the crowd chanting “lock her up.” Ben Carson suggested Clinton had an indirect but real relationship with Lucifer (I guess that’s what they mean by demonizing your opponent). It was up to two of Trump’s children to make the case for the nominee. (Washington Post)

2. The Trump campaign seemed knocked off its game by the notion that the candidate’s spouse lifted segments of her Monday night speech from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech. There were mixed messages from the campaign, and campaign manager Paul Manafort even tried to blame Clinton for the whole thing. "Nice try, not true," tweeted a Clinton spokeswoman, "blaming Hillary Clinton isn't the answer." (New York Times)

3. Minnesotans didn’t have much of a role at the convention. No one from the state spoke on stage. But behind the scenes a man with deep political roots in Minnesota had a major say in nearly every detail of how the convention came off. Former Sen. Norm Coleman calls Jeff Larson “the most politically connected person in Minnesota that nobody knows.” (MPR News)

4. Part of the reason Trump’s children had such a big role on the convention stage may be an effort by the campaign to reach millennials. Polls show Clinton with a big advantage among younger voters. Trump will need to cut into that if he wants to win. (Star Tribune)

5. Who’s that former Democrat who’s now a Trump delegate from Minnesota? It’s Steve Wenzel, who used to be a DFL state representative. (MPR News)