Election R&D Dialogues: Republican National Convention 2020 Recap
Please join USC Dornsife’s Michael Murphy and Robert Shrum for a detailed analysis of this week’s historic four-day Republican National Convention. President Donald Trump is no stranger to controversy, and his opening day speech warned Republicans their opponents might steal the election, presaging further contention come November. Amid claims of violation of the Hatch Act, the Republican Convention focused on bold rhetoric and their successes over the last four years. Highlights included an on-air pardon for an ex-convict who now runs an acclaimed prisoner reentry program and a live naturalization ceremony for five new U.S. citizens. We saw speeches from the entire Trump family, including Tiffany, as well as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recorded speech from Israel.
The mission of USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future is to advance civil dialogue that transcends partisan divisions and explores solutions to our most pressing national and global challenges. The Center is led by two of the nation’s most experienced and respected political experts, Robert Shrum and Michael Murphy.
Robert Shrum is the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at USC Dornsife and has been director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics. He has a storied career as an author and campaign adviser to Democratic candidates. His numerous clients included Edward Kennedy, Joe Biden, John Glenn and Barbara Mikulski in their Senate campaigns, and John Kerry and Al Gore in their presidential races. Overseas his clients included Ehud Barak in his campaign for Prime Minister of Israel, the British Labour Party and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of Ireland and the President of Colombia.
Michael Murphy is one of the Republican Party’s most successful political consultants. Murphy has led more than 20 statewide campaigns to victory, including gubernatorial races for Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Christine Todd Whitman, John Engler and Tommy Thompson as well as dozens of Senatorial, United States House and other races. He’s worked on six Republican presidential campaigns and is widely known for his work in the 2000 GOP primaries as a senior strategist for Senator John McCain. He has advised leaders in Canada, Panama, El Salvador, Europe and in the former Soviet Union. He is a widely known political pundit, appearing frequently on NBC, CNN and NPR.
