No-shows at GOP convention

Poor Donald Trump. It appears very few GOP leaders want to speak, or even be seen, at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland beginning Monday. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the Zika virus is more popular among some party leaders than The Donald.

{mosads}I’ve been a student of politics since the 1960s. That said, I must say the number of current and former lawmakers staying away is staggering. Even big-name sports figures are begging off. Don’t tell me, each one is going in for a colonoscopy instead of attending the convention.

As of this writing, here is a partial list of people I’ve heard who are planning to be convention no-shows:

• Former Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush won’t be in Cleveland because they aren’t endorsing Trump.
• The 2008 GOP presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, will be campaigning for reelection in Arizona.
• 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney will be playing with his grandchildren instead of shaking hands with delegates.
• As will any number of sitting governors, House and Senate members like Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Utah Rep. Mia Love and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte.

They all plan to be AWOL.

Just like Trump’s unconventional strategy of capturing the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, this year’s convention promises to be equally unconventional. For the first time in years, corporate sponsors like Chase, Ford, JPMorgan Chase, Motorola, Walgreens and Wells Fargo have declined to participate.

I know politicos like Sarah Palin, Ben Carson and Michele Bachmann would like to hear Trump address the convention delegates every night, but that’s not going to happen. The last I heard, organizers simply were saying, “Stay tuned. The line up of speakers is going to be exciting.”

I sure hope that’s true because, if it isn’t, I’m guessing the networks will be cutting away from Cleveland to the Bushes, 41 and 43, sitting together in Maine watching reruns of “The West Wing.” That would speak volumes about the convention, wouldn’t it?

Freidenrich writes from Laguna Beach, California. His letters and commentaries have run in the New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Christian Science Monitor, Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register and many other newspapers. He can be reached on Twitter @freidomreport.