19 loaded handguns

J.D. Vance’s story about his ‘Mamaw’ illustrates the gulf between parties

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For me the most memorable moment of the Republican convention was J.D. Vance’s anecdote about his grandmother stashing 19 loaded handguns around her home. This heart-warming story of his “Mamaw’s” strategically dispersed firearms collection got hearty laughs and sustained applause from the delegates. 

If there was one story (and there was certainly more than one story) to illustrate the vast gulf between people who show up at GOP conventions and the rest of America this was it. Much of the rest of America thought Mamaw was paranoid and lucky that the kids who frequented her home didn’t stumble upon a loaded gun. They might have blown off more than part of an ear. Most of America heard that story and thought “that’s nuts.” Convention-goers thought, “Oh, that Mamaw!”

Yet, commentators, even liberal commentators like Van Jones and David Axelrod, declared the convention a success. On a certain level I suppose it was. The Republicans certainly presented themselves as unified and confident and, for much of the convention, they restrained their anger and resentment. It wasn’t quite the hate fest of recent GOP conclaves, but they’ve set a low bar for that. 

They even did a skillful job of sanding off some of Trump’s rough edges. His granddaughter, his daughter-in-law and former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders all presented him as warm, funny and supportive. His bragging about his ability to commit sexual assault and his legal responsibility for actually sexually assaulting at least one woman were not mentioned. 

But, if a viewer wasn’t carefully charting all the pitches and wasn’t obsessed about stuff like lies and hypocrisy, I would have to admit that the impression at 30,000 feet was pretty good. 

Then Donald Trump spoke and turned the whole thing into a dumpster fire. It was 93 minutes of rambling, incoherent, free associating, filled with outright lies and non sequiturs. 

That tells you something about the current Republican Party as well. Here was a guy that is not only morally unqualified to be president, but also at least as affected by age as Joe Biden. And yet Democrats seem ready to dump Biden both because they fear he can’t win and because they worry that he’s not up to the job for the next four years. Republicans see a man who is actually less coherent than Biden and much less morally fit for office and they are enraptured. 

Certainly, there are plenty of Republicans who are appalled by Trump. I know a lot of them. But they weren’t at the convention. They have been exiled. The party looked unified because it is. If you’re not a Trump believer, you have either left active participation in the party or you have knuckled under and gone with the flow. 

But I will say this. After eight years of Trump the party has, in fact, come around to something that looks like a coherent point of view. It is not so much conservative, liberal or moderate as it is Trumpian. Its positions are whatever positions Trump takes. When he changes his mind the party changes its mind with him. 

And yet, the addition of Vance — a smart if morally and intellectually flexible man — will probably lend some lasting ideological structure to the cause. It is, most charitably, a blue collar populist party. Less charitably, it is a white Christian nationalist party. 

Along these lines, the appearance of Teamsters president Sean O’Brien on the opening night of the convention was a stroke of genius. Sure, other unions and some of the rank and file are beside themselves, but 60% of blue collar Americans now identify as Republicans. And blue collar is no longer equated with union, as 60% of union households still identify as Democrats. But unions represent only 10% of American workers. So, the blue collar universe is much bigger than the union universe. O’Brien may just be out ahead of the curve. 

But cheer up, Democrats. I thought my party reached its nadir on Wednesday night. The Republicans looked strong, more or less disciplined and capable of both firing up their base while reaching toward the middle. Meanwhile, Democrats are split over Biden and the Middle East and more. 

Then, at the last minute, Trump took the stage and blew up all the party’s carefully laid plans. They reverted to form. They ended up presenting themselves as the party of 19 loaded handguns while my party seems poised to find a more viable candidate. 

Stay tuned. There’s hope. 

Dave Cieslewicz is a Madison- and Upper Peninsula-based writer who served as mayor of Madison from 2003 to 2011. You can read more of his work at Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos.