Successes and failures of the third night of the Republican National Convention

Mike Pence's full speech at CNR, in Spanish 42:00

(CNN) - The Republican National Convention continued Wednesday night, with Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, taking center stage.

Below, those that I consider the successes and mistakes of the night that ended.

Successes

* Madison Cawthorn:The Republican nominee in North Carolina's 11th district beat the candidate backed by President Donald Trump in the Republican primary earlier this summer. But he has since been embraced by Trump and all the other Republican leaders, touted as a future star of the party. And Cawthorn, who is in a wheelchair after a car accident at age 18, complied with that in his Wednesday night speech. Avoiding the kinds of witty phrases and sarcastic attacks favored by the likes of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, he instead urged the weirdest thing about politics today: listen more and talk less. "To liberals I say, let's have a conversation," said Cawthorn. "For conservatives, let's define what we support and win the discussion in areas such as health care and the environment." (Cawthorn's speech was not perfect; he wrongly pointed out that James Madison had signed the Declaration of Independence.) But when Cawthorn got to his feet, with the help of a walker, to finish his speech it was moving except for only the most cynical and partisan.

* Mike Pence: If the goal of the vice president's speech Wednesday night was to make sure Trump and the president's most ardent supporters see him as a trustworthy and loyal sidekick and a no-nonsense heir to Trump's legacy, then to borrow a phrase from another republican president, mission accomplished. Pence's entire speech was devoted to the idea that no matter what you think of what Trump says (and tweets), there is no question that he has done what he said he would do. While that's highly debatable, particularly when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus (much more on that below), there's no question that Pence's speech helped him in the eyes of Trump's coalition within the Republican Party. (That's the group Pence will rely heavily on as his own base when, well, if he runs for president in 2024). As is Pence's willingness to criticize Joe Biden as someone who lacks the optimism required to be president, who supports socialism and is in debt to the "radical left." Pence's speech was conventional in every aspect of the word. It was very long. And 'Make America Great Again. Again "(" Make America Great Again. Again ") is a very strange catchphrase with which to end a convention speech. But for Pence and what he wants to do next, it was probably effective.

* Karen Pence: The second lady gave a very safe speech . She stayed away from any kind of attack on Democrats or, indeed, a lot of praise for Trump. It was effectively an apolitical speech about her experiences with military veterans. But insofar as this convention has been about anger, falsehood and a lot of yelling - I'm looking at you, Kimberly Guilfoyle - Karen Pence was a welcome and important change of pace.

* Flags, Flags, Flags !: There were American flags on the stage of the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, where most of the speeches were given. (At least eight, by my count.) Flags stacked behind the podium where Mike Pence gave his speech at Fort McHenry. In the endless cuts between speeches, there were flags at the Lincoln Memorial, flags at the Washington Monument, flags in places I couldn't make out. FLAGS!

* Trace Adkins: If I could sing the "National Anthem" - or, heck, speak - in such a low key, I feel like I'd be more successful. In the life.

Faults

* Coronavirus: It was another night of the Republican convention in which the pandemic that has sickened 5.8 million Americans and killed 179,000 was barely mentioned. (Pence talked about it in his speech as a way to explain Trump's decision and the effectiveness of the administration's response to COVID-19. Uh, OK). Now it is very clear that Trump and his political team want to send a message from this convention that the coronavirus has been left behind, thanks to Donald Trump! Unfortunately, infectious diseases do not listen to the preferred messages of political conventions. And polls suggest that a majority of Americans believe that the way the president handles the coronavirus is the most important issue in the campaign. Ignoring the constant threat posed by the coronavirus will not make it go away.

* Messages about race: The shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has rocked the country. There are protests in the streets. NBA players boycotted playoff games on Wednesday and were reportedly in a meeting to decide whether to simply end the season to focus on social activism. It was the latest thread in a series of incidents in which police officers shot black men across the country, and the last spark in the powder keg of our ongoing national conversation about race in America. You wouldn't know any of this by watching the Republican convention on Wednesday night. The only mention of Kenosha was in Mike Pence's speech at the end of the night, when he said this: "Let me be clear, the violence must stop, whether in Minneapolis, Portland or Kenosha." It's not exactly about the complexities of the issue or the deep-seated racial injustice at the heart of it all.

* Live Speeches: Donald Trump said this about the Democratic National Convention last week: "They're recording their speeches… You want to take a nap, you know when you listen, when you listen to recorded speeches, it's like it's not exciting at all." Uh, OK. The ONLY live speech of the entire third night of the convention was from Mike Pence. A live speech! In more than 150 minutes of programming! Hope you enjoyed your nap!

* Kristi Noem: The governor of South Dakota has ambitions that go beyond the limits of her home state. Which made the lifeless speech that kicked off the convention's third night even more disconcerting. Noem just read the speech from the teleprompter, without emotion and with very little energy. The only way she knew she had reached the end of her speech? The overwhelming music that brought it out.

* Marsha Blackburn: The Tennessee senator has made a name for herself in Republican circles for her willingness to go directly against Democrats, rhetorically speaking. She lived up to that reputation Wednesday night, launching a vehement attack on socialism that she says is supported by Democrats. But if you really listened to what she said, well, it was not only ridiculously exaggerated but also just plain old fear propaganda. An example: "If the Democrats had their way, they would keep you locked in your house until you became dependent on the government for everything," he said. "That sounds a lot like communist China to me." Whateee?

* Ric Grenell: Grenell is the former ambassador to Germany and former acting director of National Intelligence. What an awesome resume! But did he really need more than 15 minutes in primetime to speak on the third night of the convention? Can you imagine any member of Joe Biden's Senate (or presidential campaign) staff having that much time to speak at such a critical moment in the convention? Very rare. And Grenell's speech was good. Just fine. Nothing else.

Republican National Convention