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GOP Convention Marked By Confusion, Disorganization, Says Quinnipiac Prof

Ida Mae Astute/ABC
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Creative Commons
Melania Trump speaks at the GOP convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on its first night.

The Republican National Convention officially got underway Monday night in Cleveland, with the theme Make America Safe Again.

Quinnipiac University Political Science Professor Scott McLean is in Cleveland with eight Quinnipiac students who are participating in the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars' Republican National Convention Seminar. This week, the students are working as interns at the convention.

McLean said logistical snafus highlighted the first night of the convention, a sign that the Trump operation was not prepared for the immense undertaking of mounting a convention.

"For one thing, Trump went on Fox News during a significant speaker, the mother who was talking about her son who was killed in Benghazi," McLean said. "Fox had to cut away from the convention so Trump could speak, and he didn't really say anything of substance."

McLean said the order of speeches Monday night became confusing. He said some speakers earlier in the evening went long, forcing other speakers to go on after the keynote speech by Trump's wife, Melania.

Many delegates assumed the evening was over after Melania Trump's speech.

"So we had [Iowa Senator] Joni Ernst speaking to a very muted crowd, not getting the reaction that they really wanted to have," McLean said.

McLean said Melania Trump's speech, which bears striking similarities to Michelle Obama's 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention, is another example of the disorganization in Trump operation.

"That changes the headline and the topic of discussion, when this is not what Trump wanted the media to be talking about," he said.

McLean said the students were astounded by Monday's events, including a failed attempt by anti-Trump delegates to force a roll call vote on the rules package that could have put Trump's nomination in jeopardy.

But McLean said that mainly the students were exhausted. He said he ran into one his students at about 9:30 am Tuesday. He was leaving the Quicken Loans Arena after working all night.

I'll be checking in with Scott every day of the Republican Convention on All Things Considered. Be sure to catch live coverage of the convention this week on both WNPR and CPTV, beginning at 8:00 pm.

Ray Hardman is Connecticut Public’s Arts and Culture Reporter. He is the host of CPTV’s Emmy-nominated original series Where Art Thou? Listeners to Connecticut Public Radio may know Ray as the local voice of Morning Edition, and later of All Things Considered.

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