Follow The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's political team as it reports from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this week and from the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next week. Stay on top of the developments by following our special convention pages at http://www.myajc.com/2016-republican-convention/ and http://www.myajc.com/2016-democratic-convention/. You can also follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GAPoliticsNews or Facebook at https://facebook.com/gapoliticsnewsnow.
The top official in Donald Trump’s campaign suggested Monday that protests at the convention and across the country could help bolster the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s campaign.
Manafort told reporters Monday that protests would show “lawlessness” and “lack of respect” for political discourse that “will probably help the campaign,” according to Bloomberg Politics.
But big protests never materialized on the first day of the Republican National Convention.
There were several pro-Trump and anti-Trump demonstrations crisscrossing the city as thousands of delegates streamed into the Quicken Loans Arena, but they remained peaceful amid a huge show of force from law enforcement officials.
At one protest near Cleveland’s shore, a small group of white supremacists chanted near a contingent from Black Lives Matter. But they were vastly outnumbered by reporters and bicycle officers who ringed both groups.
“I was expecting a lot more people,” said Shanisha Hunter, 32, who traveled from New York to demonstrate. “But every little bit counts.”
— Tamar Hallerman, Greg Bluestein
Guns in purses draw eye of Secret Service
At least one or two women in the Georgia delegation attending the Republican National Convention were pulled aside by the U.S. Secret Service on Sunday after handguns were found in their purses.
At a morning breakfast, Brad Hughes, Georgia’s Republican political director, issued a friendly, Bible-based warning that bordered on poetry.
“When you get on the GOP express bus, you’re going to a secure zone. Don’t take your gun,” Hughes said. “Trust the Lord for the peace to be still. Don’t take your piece of steel.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how many delegates were found with the contraband weapons. The incidents occurred at a party for delegates held at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a spokesman for the Georgia delegation said. No one was detained.
Guns are a hot topic, given the current angst over the targeting of police in Dallas, Baton Rouge and elsewhere. The head of the police union in Cleveland has called on Ohio Gov. John Kasich to issue an executive order temporarily banning the open carrying of weapons in the city – which is permitted by state law.
— Jim Galloway
Trump official: Focus to be on Clinton, Obama
The Trump campaign plans to pin the blame on Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama for the “failed leadership” that created the atmosphere behind the shootings in Baton Rouge Dallas and elsewhere.
Asked whether Trump will present a plan to calm the unease, the campaign’s de facto chairman, Paul Manafort, told Politico that Trump “doesn’t have to because the crisis is caused by the current government.”
“Eventually, of course, he’ll present his solutions,” Manafort said. “But right now he’s pointing out the causes.”
— Tamar Hallerman
Isakson: Do ‘whatever it takes’ to defeat ISIS
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson used his speech Monday to Georgia’s 76 delegates and 73 alternates to criticize the Obama administration for waging what he described as a halfhearted war on the Islamic State.
Isakson said the attacks in Orlando, California and elsewhere by gunmen inspired by the terror group mark a point of no return.
“What we tolerate, our kids will embrace,” said Isakson, who is running for re-election against Democrat Jim Barksdale and Libertarian Allen Buckley.
“They want us to cower in fear. If we do that, they’ve won,” he said. “The media asks me what am I going to do to stop the violence on the streets. My answer is whatever it takes. There is no second-guessing. We’ve got to do it. If we don’t, America’s gone. There is no coming back.”
In an interview, Isakson elaborated on his definition of “whatever it takes.”
“It means that in terms of confronting ISIL and containment like we have today is just not enough,” he said, using an acronym of the Islamic State. “There are places where we can deploy the right type of ground forces, like special operations forces. Not an invasion force, not a surge like we had in Iraq. With 13 people we took out Osama bin Laden once we found out where he was. We know where a lot of these ISIL leaders are. It should be untenable for them to continue to exist.”
— Greg Bluestein
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