Trump's Acceptance Speech: Classic AND Unconventional

People keep asking me about President Trump's speech last night closing out the Republican National Convention.

Here's the bottom line: the speech was classic Trump and yet also atypical. It was a tour de force 

But some people still don't seem to understand this. That's because they're measuring this speech against acceptance speeches of the past. They still don't get that Trump is not the past; he's unlike any of his predecessors; he's inimitable and historic.

This was evident right from the start when President Trump described in detail the minutes that led up to and through the assassination attempt that he survived last Saturday. The fact that Trump was even there to recount the events for us was nothing short of breathtaking. But then, he calmly went ahead and told us what it was like to take a bullet, to be millimeters away from death and then to stand up and raise your fist in defiance. And he told us how and why he decided to act this way and what the steadfastness of the crowd meant to him and how he gained strength from that. And then he thanked everyone and poignantly reached out to the family of the man who was killed by one of the assassin's bullets and the two others who were injured.

Mind you, all that was just for starters. So, it was inevitable that the rest of the speech was pretty much a lovefest between the man and the foot soldiers of the movement that he built. Okay, so that took some time. But, let's face it: they needed this moment, this night, this ritualistic catharsis. 

So last night we saw a less bellicose, sweeter, gentler, more three-dimensional President Trump. But no matter the occasion or the subject at hand, Trump's speeches are never as structured as formal as what we have come to expect from a president or former president. His remarks typically include humorous asides, anecdotes, spontaneous observations and sometimes even unexpected revelations. Especially on a night like last night, this can  be bewildering to those who haven't been paying attention because Trump breaks the mold. He rewrites the playbook, live, as it's happening. And that’s refreshing audacious and exciting. 

It's astounding that we have tyo say this again but we will:  Trumpism is a big, raucous, propulsive phenomenon unlike anything most of us have ever seen in our lifetime. So, we suppose it inevitably flusters the timid or the squeamish among us. Be that as it may. That's on them. 

Fasten your seat belts, people. An American deliverance is underway!