Priebus calls for a better America

Priebus calls for a better America

CLEVELAND

Reince Priebus has arguably had one of the more difficult jobs of the 2016 election season, holding the Republican Party together while managing a polarizing candidate who refuses to tone down his blistering rhetoric.

But when the Republican National Committee chairman took the stage Thursday on the final night of the GOP convention in Cleveland, after a raucous week that broadcast divisions within the party for the whole nation to see, he kept his comments on Donald Trump to a minimum.

Instead he did what most Republicans who have had issues with the party’s nominee did: Attack the likely Democratic choice, Hillary Clinton, while calling for a better America.

“The Republican Party will not stop until that becomes a reality,” Priebus said. “That’s why need to stop Hillary Clinton.”

Business boom has been a bust

Bar and restaurant owners in downtown Cleveland say the expected boom in business from the Republican National Convention has been a bust.

Many say business is even worse than in normal weeks.

Cleveland media outlets report that downtown nightspots that have stocked up on liquor and stayed open later are now sending staff home early.

Bar and restaurant owners just blocks from the Quicken Loans Arena, where the convention is being held, say increased security and media coverage of the protests have driven people away.

A lot of downtown offices told their employees to take vacation during the convention or to work from home.

Bar owner Morgan Cavanaugh says all he sees walking past his place are a lot of police officers.

O’Jays object to use of ‘Love Train’ song

There’s not a lot of love from the O’Jays about the use of their song “Love Train” during the Republican National Convention.

The R&B group says its hit — including a version remixed as “Trump Train” —was used without the band’s consent.

Founding O’Jays members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams say in a statement they were asked to appear at the Cleveland convention. They say they turned down the offer, and they say Donald Trump’s candidacy is — in their words — “divisive and at odds with the overriding message of their song.”

Levert is making clear what he thinks about the GOP presidential nominee: “I think he just may be the anti-Christ.”

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers say they’re willing to be a part of the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

Cruz stands by convention speech

Sen. Ted Cruz’s controversial speech to the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night was vintage Cruz – a calculated, high-risk gamble that could either wound his political career or give him a platform for a 2020 or 2024 White House run.

The junior senator from Texas stood by his speech and decision not to endorse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, a move that produced boos and alienated many conventioneers, including some members of the Texas delegation, who both cheered him and challenged him at a breakfast Thursday. Cruz responded: “I’m going to defend your right even to insult me.”

Even Cruz’s most ardent supporters seemed perplexed by his remarks. At the very least, he appears to have splintered his own base. Most delegates either professed their outrage for his refusal to support Trump or pivoted to party devotion.

“What does it say when you stand up and say, ‘Vote your conscience,’ and rabid supporters of our nominee begin screaming, ‘What a horrible thing to say?’ If we can’t make the case to the American people that voting for our party’s nominee is consistent with voting your conscience; is consistent with defending freedom and being faithful to the Constitution, then we are not going to win and we do not deserve to win.”

Combined dispatches