EDWARDSVILLE - Trump delegate and Madison County Board member, Tom McRae, reflected on this week’s Republican National Convention as an “overwhelming success”. McRae was elected in the Republican primary in March of this year to serve as a Trump delegate from the 12th congressional district. The convention began on Monday of this week and concluded Thursday night with Donald Trump accepting the Republican nomination for President.
McRae had planned for months to attend the national convention in Charlotte, NC and later changed those plans to attend the alternate city of Jacksonville, FL. Eventually the convention was forced to be held virtually due to COVID-19 concerns. “Although I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to cast my vote in person for President Trump at the national convention, I was thrilled to be able to vote for him by proxy”, said McRae. “I’ve taken a lot of difficult votes during my tenure as a Wood River Township Trustee and now a County Board Member. Voting for Donald Trump as a delegate was the easiest vote I’ve ever taken”.
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The week began with a lineup of speakers that included former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Republican South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Senator Scott spoke of his journey growing up as an African American in the racially divided south. Scott said “our family went from cotton to congress in one lifetime”.
Later in the week speakers included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who spoke from Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel, presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway, Vice President Mike Pence, as well as football legends, Herschel Walker and Lou Holtz. There was also a very emotional speech given by Ann Dorn, a St. Louis police officer and widow of the late retired police officer David Dorn, who was murdered during rioting in St. Louis in June. First Lady Melania Trump spoke of her dream of coming to America from Slovenia and her 10 year journey toward citizenship. She delivered a unifying message of hope for our nation.
The President was introduced on Thursday night by his daughter Ivanka Trump. Ivanka spoke about the personal side of her father and how he had a deep love for his children and grandchildren and for all Americans. She poked fun at his infamous Tweets. The crowd on the South Lawn erupted when Ivanka said, “Washington didn’t change Donald Trump. Donald Trump changed Washington”.
President Trump delivered a long speech touting the great economy that his administration has built, including the lowest unemployment rate in more than 50 years (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic). Trump spoke about how he rebuilt the U.S. military, destroyed ISIS, and eliminated terrorists like ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi and Iranian terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani. Trump also has enacted a foreign policy that is putting an end to the endless wars that our country had engaged in with prior administrations, and putting America first in getting tough on China in trade relations. He concluded with a hopeful message that four more years of prosperity is coming for America once he is re-elected.
“The Republican National Convention, which centered on opportunity, American exceptionalism and law and order was a stark contrast to the doom and gloom we saw the previous week in the Democrat National Convention, where they talked about raising taxes, catering to illegal immigrants, and the disastrous Green New Deal,” said McRae. “Instead of promoting Joe Biden, they barely mentioned him, kept him largely hidden like they have for most of the campaign and just attacked Trump.”
Tom McRae lives in Bethalto with his wife Patti. He has served on the Madison County Board since 2010, and is currently the Republican nominee for Madison County Circuit Clerk in this November’s election.
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