CLEVELAND — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus gaveled in the party’s 2016 convention Monday afternoon with a moment of silence for police killed in the line of duty, and for families suffering in these “troubling times.”
Signs of discontent were visible early on, when Mr. Priebus nominated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to be the temporary chairman of the committee, then called for a voice vote. Boos cascaded down, and the “no” votes appeared to outshout the “yes” votes, but Mr. Priebus claimed Mr. McConnell had won nonetheless.
“It’s pretty clear, guys,” he said to more boos.
Republicans are hoping for a show of unity behind their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, but disagreements over policy and style have lingered.
The antipathy toward Mr. McConnell, though, is likely reflective of conservative activists’ feeling that the GOP majorities in Congress have not pursued a strong enough agenda.
The first piece of major business for the convention will be insurgents’ last-gasp effort to try to derail the nomination of Donald Trump. They will need to defeat the party’s rules package to do that — a task made nearly impossible by the unwieldy size of the convention delegation.
Mr. Trump’s family will speak over the four days of the convention, and he himself will claim the nomination Thursday.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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