Leland Vittert’s War Notes: 1968 or 1980 or 1984

NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.  

We’re coming to you from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which leaves less time than normal for writing War Notes.

• I’ll be helping our coverage every day starting at 1 p.m. E.T.  and anchoring “On Balance” from 7 to 8 p.m. and 10 to 12 p.m. tonight and tomorrow night – tune in! 

Over the next four days, former President Donald Trump and Republicans have a clear and binary choice: “America Unite,” Trump’s tweet Sunday, or “Fight, Fight, Fight,” Trump’s chant after escaping death by a quarter of an inch Saturday. 

• We can find parallels to 1968, 1980 or 1984 — George Will last night pointed out the ‘68 touch points for a combustible next four months. 

Trump comes to the convention with an unusual opportunity to reintroduce himself to the country, especially considering the events of the past 2 1/2 weeks:

• President Biden’s disastrous debate performance
• Wild infighting in the Democratic Party
• Biden’s inability to reset the narrative 
• Trump’s newfound discipline over the past few weeks of allowing Democrats to fight amongst themselves and NOT be the story
• Trump escaping an assassin’s bullet with only a bloody ear 

For all the talk about pivoting to the center during the convention (a political tradition of past times), Trump comes with an ability to completely reset and reintroduce. 

• Trump’s pick of J.D. Vance for vice president tells us just how much he controls the party and doubles down on a MAGA base rather than reach even to the center to help America unite.
  • Tune in to “On Balance” tonight at 7 p.m. (and again at 10 p.m.) Bill O’Reilly will be on to discuss what this VP choice means.
  • O’Reilly will also weigh in on the culture war that created America’s current political climate.
    • Is it possible to “cool” the political war without cooling the culture war between progressive and traditional values? 

Republican sentiment summed up: To me, it’s very simple — if you call someone “Hitler” and say “Hitler” must be stopped by any means, what do you expect to happen?

Thus, Jonathan Martin’s must-read in Politico before the convention: 

• He writes, “The complete and total, to borrow a phrase, realignment of the GOP into the Party of Trump was nearly complete after he avoided being seriously challenged, let alone defeated, through the primaries. But it was cemented in Butler, Pennsylvania, when Trump escaped death and seconds later rallied his stunned audience to forge a bond few American presidents have enjoyed with their supporters.”

Thought bubble: Lots of Republicans here keep talking about Reagan, post-assassination attempt, winning in a landslide in 1984. Yes, that is possible. 

• But remember three weeks ago when Trump was going to interrupt through the debate and give Biden the same postdebate boost Biden got in 2020. 
• Lesson learned: Things change! 

Normally in Washington, we look out to the country — this week, we look from Milwaukee back towards Washington, and it’s a vastly DIFFERENT view. 

Compare Republicans united here in Milwaukee to the Democrats’ division in D.C. 

The Trump assassination attempt drowned out the “replace Biden” push, but Democrats remain divided.

• Big problem: The only issue Democrats had to unite around WAS hating Donald Trump. For obvious reasons, Democrats now face severe restrictions on what they can say about Trump. 

BUT last night’s Oval Office speech told Americans everything THEY should do and promised nothing for what Mr. Biden would do himself — including turning down his own rhetoric about Trump.  

• Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.V., says the far Left’s protection of Biden is the only thing saving him — this explains so much of the messaging we see from the White House.
• A senior Democrat in the House told Axios, “We’ve all resigned ourselves to a second Trump presidency.”
• Thought bubble: On Friday, Biden’s fiery new stump speech spent about three-fourths of an hour bashing Trump. How will tomorrow’s speech in Las Vegas look different?
  • Yes — an Oval Office address.

Watch tonight: Axios’ Alex Thompson will be live with us in Milwaukee with new reporting on Biden’s path forward and if Biden will change his stump speech or rhetoric to match his Oval Office address.  

• Also, watch this: Governor Josh Shapiro showing far more leadership than either Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Any hope of lowering the temperature requires the referees (the media, et al.) to keep score fairly.This clip of ABC’s Martha Raddatz does not give you much hope.

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.