LOCA^POLITICS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Tuesday, August 25, 2020 7A
Scaled-down GOP national convention opens
TRAVIS DOVE I The New York Times via Associated Press
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence give a thumbs-up after speaking during the first day of the Republican National Convention
Monday, Aug. 24, in Charlotte, N.C.
BY STEVE PEOPLES,
MICHELLE L. PRICE
AND DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Republi
cans offered dark warnings about
America’s future if President Don
ald Trump fails to win a second
term, opening their scaled-down
national convention Monday night
by casting the GOP as a protector
of religious freedom, the nation’s
workers and much more.
A school teacher warned that
conservative Christian values were
under attack from labor unions. A
small business owner charged that
businesses across America were
facing unwarranted pandemic
shutdowns and riotous mobs. And
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida likened
the prospect of Democrat Joe
Biden’s election to a horror movie.
“They’ll disarm you, empty the
prisons, lock you in your home,
and invite MS-13 to live next door,”
Gaetz declared.
Trump, who was not scheduled
to deliver his keynote convention
address until later in the week,
made multiple public appearances
throughout the first day of the four-
day convention. And while the eve
ning programming was carefully
scripted, Trump was not.
“The only way they can take
this election away from us is if
this is a rigged election,” Trump
told hundreds of Republican del
egates gathered in North Carolina,
raising anew his concerns about
Americans’ expected reliance on
mail voting during the pandemic.
Experts say mail voting has proven
remarkably secure.
The GOP convention marks a
crucial moment for Trump, a first-
term Republican president tasked
with reshaping a campaign he is
losing by all accounts, at least for
now.
A deep sense of pessimism
has settled over the electorate 10
weeks before Election Day. Just
23% of Americans think the coun
try is heading in the right direction,
according to a new poll from The
Associated Press-NORC Center for
Public Affairs Research.
More than 177,000 Americans
have been killed by the pandemic
and millions more have been
infected. Corona virus-related job
losses also reach into the millions.
Trump and his supporters on
Monday night touted his response
to the pandemic while standing
alongside front-line workers in the
White House.
Organizers also repeatedly
sought to cast Trump as an empa-
thetic figure, borrowing a page
from the Democrats’ convention
playbook a week ago that effec
tively highlighted Biden’s personal
connection to voters.
The evening program high
lighted the tension within Trump’s
Republican Party. His harsh
attacks against Democrats who are
trying to expand mail voting and
demonstrators protesting deaths in
police custody, for example, often
delight his die-hard loyalists. Yet
the party pointed to a somewhat
more diverse convention lineup
with a more inclusive message
designed to expand Trump’s politi
cal coalition beyond his white,
working-class base.
Two of the three final speakers
on the prime-time program were
people of color: former U.S. ambas
sador to the United Nations Nikki
Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim
Scott, the only Black Republican in
the Senate.
And one of several African
Americans on the schedule, for
mer football star Herschel Walker,
defended the president against
those who call him a racist.
“It hurts my soul to hear the
terrible names that people call
Donald,” Walker said in prepared
remarks. “The worst one is ‘racist.’
I take it as a personal insult that
people would think I would have
a 37-year friendship with a racist. ”
However, the program also fea
tured Mark and Patricia McClos-
key, the St. Louis couple arrested
after pointing guns at Black Lives
Matter protesters marching past
their home.
“Democrats no longer view the
government’s job as protecting
honest citizens from criminals, but
rather protecting criminals from
honest citizens,” the McCloskeys
said in prepared remarks that
broke from the optimistic vision
for America organizers promised.
They added: “Make no mistake:
No matter where you live, your
family will not be safe in the radi
cal Democrats’ America.”
Those cheering Trump’s leader
ship on the pandemic included a
coronavirus patient, a small busi
ness owner from Montana and a
nurse practitioner from Virginia.
“As a healthcare professional,
I can tell you without hesitation,
Donald Trump’s quick action and
leadership saved thousands of lives
during COVID-19,” Amy Ford, a
registered nurse who was deployed
to New York and Texas to fight the
coronavirus.
Some of the planned remarks
for the evening program were pre
recorded, while others were to be
delivered live from a Washington
auditorium.
The Republicans gathered in
contrast to the Democrats, who
held an all-virtual convention last
week.
Trump said he had made the
trip to North Carolina to contrast
himself with his Democratic rival,
who never traveled to Wisconsin,
the state where the Democratic
convention was originally sup
posed to be held. Vice President
Mike Pence appeared with him.
The president has sought to min
imize the toll of the coronavirus
pandemic and he barely addressed
it on Monday, but its impact was
plainly evident at the Charlotte
Convention Center, where just
336 delegates gathered instead of
the thousands once expected to
converge on this city for a week-
long extravaganza. Attendees sat
at well-spaced tables at first and
masks were mandatory, though
many were seen flouting the
regulation.
Trump also panned the state’s
Democratic governor for restric
tions put in place to try to prevent
the spread of the virus, which has
killed more than 175,000 people
in the country and infected mil
lions. The president accused Gov.
Roy Cooper of “being in a total
shutdown mode,” and claimed the
restrictions were aimed at trying to
hurt his campaign.
Mecklenburg County Health
Director Gibbie Harris said she
had “shared concern about the
lack of mask wearing and social
distancing in the room” with RNC
staff and had “been assured that
they are working hard to address
these issues.”
Republicans will spend the week
convinving the American people
that the president deserves a sec
ond term. Aides want the conven
tion to recast the story of Trump’s
presidency and present the elec
tion as a choice between his vision
for America’s future and the one
presented by Biden.
“Over the next four days, Presi
dent Trump and Republicans are
going to talk about all we have
achieved the past four years, and
cast an aspirational, forward-
looking vision about what we can
achieve in the next four,” said GOP
Chair Ronna McDaniel.
Besides formally awarding
Trump the Republican nomina
tion, delegates gathered in North
Carolina also approved a handful
of new resolutions, including one
to keep Columbus Day as a fed
eral holiday and one that labels
the Southern Poverty Law Center,
which catalogs the country’s hate
groups, as a “radical organization. ”
Another bemoans “cancel cul
ture,” warning that it “has grown
into erasing of history, encourag
ing lawlessness, muting citizens
and violating free exchange of
ideas, thoughts, and speech.”
But the delegates did not vote on
a new 2020 platform, which details
the party’s positions on key issues,
after a unanimous vote to forgo
one this year.
Democrats were content to let
Trump’s unfiltered message drive
the day.
While he campaigned aggres
sively across the country through
out last week’s Democratic
convention, Biden made no public
appearance on Monday.
Braselton to hold Labor Day weekend fireworks fest
Times file photo
Red, White and Blue Redo
What: Braselton patriotic reverse parade and fireworks show
Parade: 6-8 p.m. at Year One parking lot, 1001 Cherry St., Braselton
Fireworks show: Dark-thirty, around 8:30 p.m. in downtown Braselton
Parade sign up: downtownbraselton.formstack.com/forms/2020reverseparade
BY KELSEY P0D0
kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com
Labor Day weekend is about to feel like
July Fourth in downtown Braselton.
Because of the pandemic, the city post
poned its Independence Day festivities to
Saturday, Sept. 5, and plans to make up for
it with a “Red, White and Blue Redo.”
“I know we’re all lacking in safe things
to do in recent months,” Nikki Perry,
Braselton’s tourism director, said. “We
felt like it was important to give people
an opportunity to enjoy some time with
their family and celebrate Labor Day
weekend.”
To protect residents and visitors, Perry
said the city plans to host a “reverse
parade.” Instead of allowing spectators to
line the streets and watch floats and deco
rated vehicles pass by, the opposite will
happen.
From 6-8 p.m., Perry said all the
parade’s entertainment will remain sta
tioned in Year One’s parking lot at 1001
Cherry St. Attendees are asked to drive
through the guided route as local busi
nesses, organizations and individuals
wave from their spaces.
“It’s a no-contact parade,” Perry said.
“You won’t have to worry about people
in the parade approaching vehicles. They
won’t throw candy or hand out any litera
ture. We want to make sure this is safe.”
Although the American Legion Post 7
in Gainesville had plans of postponing its
July Fourth fireworks show to Labor Day
weekend, Johnny Varner, veteran service
officer, said Hall County officials “shot the
whole thing down.”
Laurel Park, which touches Lake
Lanier, typically serves as the annual
event’s venue. Varner said the celebration
easily draws in over 5,000 people, mak
ing it impossible to safely hold during the
pandemic.
“We were thinking of how we could do
something at the Legion, but it doesn’t
seem feasible at this point,” he said. “The
numbers (COVID-19 cases) don’t help,
they keep going up. Nobody wants the
liability.”
Braselton will hold its fireworks show
around 8:30 p.m., after sunset.
Instead of asking people to congregate
in one place for its fireworks show, Perry
said Braselton is encouraging people to
space out and socially distance themselves
in the downtown area.
She said people can view the fireworks
at Town Green, Braselton Park, the top
of the city’s parking deck and “anywhere
with an unobstructive view of the sky in
downtown.”
“We’re counting on the public to stay
safe and take care of themselves,” Perry
said. “More of our events have been can
celed to keep the public safe. We’re hop
ing that this is an opportunity for people
to be responsible and come out and spend
time with their family.”
Businesses, organizations, churches
and individuals who would like to par
ticipate in the parade can sign up by vis
iting downtownbraselton. f ormstack. com /
forms / 202Orever separade.
In-person job fair set for Sept. 15 witb precautions
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
An in-person job fair is set for Sept. 15 at the
Gainesville Civic Center, but with precautions put
in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some 45 employers are expected at the Greater
Hall Chamber of Commerce event, where job
seekers will be able to “meet employers face to
face” and apply for jobs, the chamber said in a
recent press release.
The chamber urges prospective employees to
bring their resume but also wear a mask.
Officials “will be taking measures to ensure the
safety of employers and job seekers at this event
with temperature checks, face masks, hand sani
tizer, as well as extra-wide aisles and larger booth
spaces,” the chamber said.
This is the first in-person job fair the chamber
has held since the COVID-19 pandemic, but it isn’t
its first in-person event.
Job Fair
What: Some 45 employers will be
interviewing job seekers
When: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept. 15
Where: Gainesville Civic Center,
830 Green St.
Admission: Free
The chamber held its annual Economic & Polit
ical Forecast on Aug. 11 at Lanier Technical Col
lege’s Ramsey Conference Center. The event had
both an in-person and virtual audience.
But then it canceled its 112th Annual Meeting &
Gala, which had been scheduled for Sept. 10 at the
Chattahoochee Country Club in Gainesville. The
event, which draws hundreds to a packed ball
room, had already been postponed from May 14.
It was canceled because COVID-19 is “still prev
alent in the community,” chamber president and
CEO Kit Dunlap has said.
Times file photo
