The Unconventional Diaries: Cruz and critics stir the pot ahead of Trump’s big day

Yahoo News has enlisted participants at the Republican National Convention representing different viewpoints and roles to file daily diary entries on their experiences in Cleveland. They are your eyes and ears at one of the most unconventional political gatherings in generations, offering a front-row seat on the convention floor, behind-the-scenes access to key political meetings and a vivid picture of what conventions are really like, both inside and outside the arena. Here are yesterday’s entries.

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Ted Cruz committed political suicide Wednesday night with his speech. Even the Texas people were booing him. I don’t think he’ll be running for higher office again.

There wasn’t chaos. It was just everyone was mad at him. All he had to do was say, “I support Donald Trump,” and the speech would have been great. He would have set himself up for a future presidential run. He didn’t, but now it doesn’t matter.

That was the feeling on the floor. Republicans are united. It was just that Cruz let his ego get in the way of backing Donald Trump. The media might say whatever, but that is the truth. I was just listening to people at the convention. I walked around to get some input and I heard the same thing from every state. I went to the Midwest, and to Texas. They all were saying the same thing.

On the other hand, Mike Pence did great tonight. He is smart, down to earth and a good addition to the ticket. I was talking with one of his fellow Indiana lawmakers earlier, and she spoke very highly of him. She talked about how she wants to continue all of his policies now that he’s going to be gone.

I don’t know if people saw, but Trump was there and watched his son Eric give his speech. Trump only came out for a few minutes, but he was there giving him some support, which was very gracious, and he didn’t want to steal any thunder.

Earlier in the day, we had breakfast with the South Carolina delegation. Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Nikki Haley were there, and they talked. We went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I talked to a lot of people from different states. People said it was the best convention they’ve ever been to in awhile. Someone said it was so good that Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DNC chair, was sitting around taking notes on how to run a convention.

Thursday is the big day, and everyone is going to be getting ready to dress up in their states’ paraphernalia. Everyone is excited. You can judge a man by his kids, and the kids did great the past couple [of] nights. But we’re excited for tomorrow, for their dad to address everyone.

As told to Andrew Bahl/Yahoo News

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We’ve been all over, including inside the arena, over the last three days to do the hard work of keeping Republicans honest. They’re giving us a lot to work with. But one thing that has stood out to me is that it’s surprising to see a convention that is so sparsely attended.

Seeing speakers like Ben Carson on Tuesday night, for example, addressing an arena in which even lower levels are fairly empty, as they were, was something I’m not used to seeing at a convention. That really struck me.

But when everything that you’re hearing coming from the floor is anger, vitriol and rhetoric — that I think even their hardcore believers know isn’t actually true — then it’s not that surprising. It says a lot about how they’re not really trying to broaden their appeal. That’s been a big thing I’ve noticed.

It’s going to be a very different next week at the Democratic convention. Our goal is to give people something to vote for, not just something to vote against. Our candidate and our convention will be more about communicating an uplifting vision for America, and recognizing that we’re all in this together, that we’re stronger together. We think it’ll draw a very sharp contrast with the disorganization, chaos and ugliness we’re seeing here in Cleveland.

We’ve had an agreement with our counterparts at the RNC to allow each other access to debates and conventions. We’ve held three morning press conferences here at the RNC so far now. They’ve been very well-attended — lots of cameras, lots of reporters, and we’ve spent time in the arena and radio row making sure we’re setting the record straight.

On Monday, we had Iraq War veteran Ruben Gallego, now a congressman from Arizona. On Tuesday, we had Reps. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., and Tim Ryan, D-Ohio. Ryan talked about how all of Donald Trump’s products are made abroad — China, Bangladesh, you name it — rather than in Steubenville or Youngstown. Joe Crowley, being from Trump’s home borough of Queens, said it’s not just that Trump is not making things in Ohio — he’s not making them back home, either. Trump’s not opening up production facilities in Queens. He’s outsourcing.

So we’ve had a really cool set of perspectives that bring it all together — between the people who know him best in New York and the people who see the impact of what he doesn’t do — here in Ohio. And we’ve had very successful events for the last three days. We’re starting Thursday morning with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. And Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., will be joining DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and fanning out all across the convention sites to keep calling them out.

What we won’t get to do is see enough of Cleveland. It’s a beautiful city, but I don’t know that I’m going to have time to see enough before leaving, so I definitely want to come back.

As told to Hunter Walker/Yahoo News

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We had our last meeting Wednesday night to deal with logistics for our big demonstration. It is going to be 90 or 91 degrees tomorrow, and we want to make sure for people we have a cold bottle of water in everyone’s hand. There is no shade on the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, so we want to make sure people are hydrated. We’re trying to sort out distributing T-shirts and getting people out to the march.

I deeply believe that Thursday can be a turning point for this campaign and for this country. I don’t know whether Trump will use this speech to run to the center or to fan the flames of intolerance that he has already ignited. But I do know Thursday night is a critical moment in American political history. And we can’t be silent.

When the nomination of Trump became inevitable this spring, a few dozen physicians and nurses based in Cleveland started Stand Together Against Trump. We’re not professional protesters. We’re your neighbors, your colleagues. We live in communities in and around Cleveland. We’re Democrats, Republicans and independents. Most of us are people who haven’t protested before. But we felt that we needed to stand up for our hospital colleagues, many of whom are immigrants and Muslims. Trump has relentlessly attacked these colleagues, who contribute greatly to our Cleveland community. We also started Stand Together Against Trump for our children, who we hope will grow up in inclusive communities that value diversity. And we started it for you — for all of those who believe in an America that looks very different than the one Donald Trump is trying to create.

Over the past several days here in Cleveland, reporters have asked us what our group is going to do to steal the spotlight on Thursday. That’s a difficult question to answer. We haven’t convinced Stephen Colbert to show up and host more “Hunger Games.” We certainly don’t have any guns. We made our signs in my backyard. Our best chance of stealing Trump’s moment is to get as many of us as possible out there on Thursday to show a positive counter to his hate, to show a better America to the world. We will be gathering at Public Square in Cleveland wearing yellow, standing together in peaceful demonstration.

This is a crucial moment for our nation. In many ways, I feel like America is hanging by a thread. It remains to be seen whether we as a nation can pull together in the face of racism and hatred, or whether we will crumble. When my grandchildren ask me what I did to stop the rise of Donald Trump, I want to be able to say that I did more than just vote. That I did more than send a few tweets. I want to be able to say that I did everything I could to counter his hate-filled message with positivity and peace. If we stand together against Trump on Thursday, we can make a difference.

We’re expecting a crowd in the high hundreds, low thousands. It probably won’t be 5,000 or 10,000, given that the next-largest protest was 700 people. But we’re all excited. We’re all a little anxious. But we want to be out there. We don’t want to be watching that moment on TV.

As told to Andrew Bahl/Yahoo News

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The Mississippi delegation had breakfast together on Wednesday morning. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry was there and he was just great. He spoke well of Donald Trump even though he ran against him. Perry said he did not initially support Trump because he supported himself first. But he supports Trump now. He’s funny — he’s really funny. And he’s a good speaker. I didn’t realize this about him. And he’s been so supportive of Marcus Luttrell, the “Lone Survivor” Navy SEAL; he treats him almost like a son.

Perry said at the delegate breakfast that health care policy and education policy should be decided at the state level, not the national level. I agree with that. What works in one part of the country does not necessarily work somewhere else. This is a big country, and it’s not the same in every state. I think that a smaller government is much easier to control than a national one. We don’t all wear the same size shoe, you know.

Paul Ryan was at the breakfast too. He shared his agenda for the House of Representatives with us. I want to get a copy of that, because it sounds good if they could get all of that accomplished. It would be good to see some action in the Republican House and Senate before the election. He’s very good. Ryan endorsed Trump too. So I think, really, 90 percent of the people are on board with the Trump nomination. At the convention, there are just a few that are not endorsing Trump. They’re still bitter.

It was really great for Mississippi that these men took the time to speak with us. After that, I had a luncheon at the Powerhouse. The luncheon honored the Mississippi delegates and was sponsored by AT&T and Mississippi Power, among others. And not having to buy lunch saved us a little bit of money!

We’re also trying to see as much of Cleveland as we can. We’ve been seeing a lot of roads closed by the protesters. We’ve been getting stuck in a lot of traffic because of that. I should’ve known better. At least I know for tonight.

After lunch, I headed back to the hotel and dealt with some work back home before heading to the convention center. I’m a real estate agent, so I had a couple things to follow through on. I want to see if I’m making any money at home to pay for this trip. Instead, I ended up taking a nap. I slept a long time and had to jump up in a hurry to get back to the arena.

It’s an exciting day and tonight’s lineup is really great. I made it in time to see Laura Ingraham speak and she did a great job. She was actually one of the first speakers of the night. I was excited to hear Mike Pence. I haven’t had a chance to research him, but I got my daughter to go online and check him out. “He’s good, Mom,” she said. “He’s good.” He’s a good Christian man and a family man. I think he’s going to attract a different kind of voter to the ticket. I think he’s going to bring more evangelicals into the fold than we had before.

I must say, however, I’m disappointed in Gov. John Kasich for not attending the convention. He is the governor of Ohio and this convention bringing so much attention and money to his state, in any case.

It’s all been good so far here at the RNC. I thought that Donald Trump Jr. knocked it out of the park Tuesday night. He did really well. It is great to directly hear the Trump children say how much they love and respect their dad. It’s so different from how people try to portray him. Trump’s a hard-working businessman, and since his kids could walk, they’ve been in conference rooms with their dad. If he’s in a meeting and he gets a call from one of his children, no matter whom he’s talking with, he takes the call from his family. He is just a good dad. His kids might have college degrees but they have good common sense too. As a of friend of mine once said: “A lot members of Mensa couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag, but you have many successful small-business owners who have more common sense than anything else.”

I’m excited to hear Ivanka Trump, our nominee’s other daughter, speak tomorrow night. I always enjoy hearing from his family. Tomorrow will be another busy day of breakfasts and luncheons, but I’m looking forward to a great last night.

As told to Susanna Heller/Yahoo News
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