Politics –
Trump-Pence Launch GOP Convention

The Republican National Convention will open today in Cleveland with one of the oddest political marriages in modern history: Trump-Pence. Yes, Donald Trump has selected Indiana’s Gov. Mike Pence to be his running mate and for the record. I haven’t seen two people more mismatched and uncomfortable since Michael Jackson kissed Lisa Marie Presley on live TV!

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Trump-Pence was introduced to the world on Saturday morning during what appeared to be a hastily arranged press conference.  The announcement was originally scheduled to happen 24 hours earlier, however an indecisive Trump could not make up his mind on a selection and used the terror attacks in France as an excuse for the delay. Too bad for him he couldn’t take an extra 48 hours just to fix certain logistics and take a crash course in how to actually announce and appear with a running mate.

To say that Saturday’s announcement was bad would be an understatement.  For starters, the lighting was horrific. Every time Gov. Pence looked down at his prepared remarks, half of his face was cut off from unnecessary shadows that simply created a poor television picture. Then there was Trump, who rambled haphazardly for 28 minutes from one topic to the next, before finally getting around to the introduction of Pence.  Once Trump-Pence was eventually announced, the governor made his way to the podium from some remote off-stage location, shook his running mate’s hand and then…Trump left the stage.  No 2 clasped hands in the air.  No unity photos.  No nothing!

Mike Pence then took to the mic.  He was charismatic, well-organized, focused, disciplined and on message. To many political pundits, Pence completely upstaged Donald Trump and seemed more as if HE should be at the top of the ticket and not “The Donald.”

When all was said and done, the Trump and Pence families paraded onto the stage as photographers prepared for a Trump-Pence unity moment photo-op.  Except it never happened.  Trump and Pence stood uncomfortably side-by-side at center stage, awkwardly applauding the audience’s applause of them — and then they left. It was weird.  If there was ever any question that Trump was not totally sold on his VP selection, one didn’t have to look beyond the Trump-Pence press conference for the answer.

The VP selection is a candidate’s first major decision and proof to the general public of how he/she plans to govern. However, Trump completely dropped the ball here. He announced a press conference before he had made an actual decision. He called into Fox News to admit he was undecided several hours after Friday’s canceled press conference and only a few hours before Saturday’s rescheduled event.  He invited Pence to travel to New York for the announcement, only for Pence aides to hear the Fox News admission that Trump was having 2nd thoughts.  He was chilling out late Friday night at his Beverly Hills home, instead of greeting Pence in New York and assuring him that he was indeed the pick.  He also failed to notify Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie that they were not the choice prior to every news outlet in the world announcing Trump-Pence. Great job, Don!

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Then, there was the unveiling of the new Trump-Pence logo, which the Internet had a veritable field day ripping to shreds.

For many, the “T” in Trump inserted into the “P” in Pence on the logo appears to be somewhat of a phallic symbol.

“I think that it’s very clear that Trump is the dominant partner in this relationship,” international designer Cyrus Highsmith said while chuckling. “The only thing I can guess is that Trump wants to make sure that everyone knows that he’s in charge. It’s totally in line with his personality.”

Other designers called the logo “amateurish” and said it appeared similar to what a  high school student might slap together 10 minutes before an assignment was due.

Nancy Skolos, dean of architecture and design at the Rhode Island School of Design, called the design “fussy and overwrought,” and more like a “high school doodle.”

Matt Luckhurst, of the Collins design firm in San Francisco, whose work includes Facebook’s M app and Airbnb’s rebranding campaign, called it an obvious last-minute decision.

“I think it’s an oversight. I doubt they actually planned this,” Luckhurst said. “It’s something where they said good enough and they launched it out into the world.”

Regardless of the logo and the awkward political marriage of the two men, Trump-Pence is now a reality.  In fact, Republicans will use today’s convention launch to spin the pairing as the greatest thing since ice cream — except a few notable names will be missing from the dais and the “ra-ra” charade.

The GOP’s two living presidents, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush will not be there.  John McCain and Mitt Romney, the party’s two most recent presidential nominees, will each avoid this week’s convention like the plague. Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich has decided not to travel the short distance and play host to the event in his very own state.  Oh, and Sarah Palin said Ohio is simply much too far to travel to from Alaska — although it’s unclear if that was her own decision, or if “The Donald” simply told her he’d rather she stay home and hunt moose than bring her brand of wackiness to his nomination!

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