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2020 Republican Presidential Candidates

Recently, on October 26-27, 2019, I had the pleasure of attending Politicon. Politicon is a convention held every year where commentators, authors, politicians, and citizens to come together and respectfully discuss their dissenting viewpoints. Given how divided our country has become over politics, this is a relevant event because it encourages civil, informative dialogue.

The event this year was held in Nashville, Tennessee after a long tenure of the event being held in Los Angeles, California ever since the convention formed in 2015. Simon Sidi, the founder of Politicon, sat down with Tres Wittum from Nashville Noise to explain the motivation behind the organization and why the location shifted.

“My background is in live concerts and entertainment. I used to design and produce concerts for rock bands for many years but I’ve always been a political nerd. So I wanted to bring the same type of energy that I did with concerts to politics. I wanted to get all the political nerds together and put on a convention,” said Sidi. “One of the reasons we wanted to bring it to Nashville was because we wanted to move it into the middle of the country and to attract people from all over the country. We know from our ticket sales so far that we have sold tickets in well over 25 states around the country so we are very excited about being in Nashville.”

The Music City Center in Downtown Nashville was where Politicon was held. The convention center was divided into four stages—Civic Hall, Independence Hall, Liberty Hall, and Freedom Hall. By official scheduling, each discussion was organized into a specific location based on the quantity of expected turnout. Civic Hall and Independence Hall were bigger auditoriums, which means that more well-known figures were assigned to these stages because of a larger crowd expectancy.

Because Politicon is now in a blue (Democratic) city in a red (Republican) state, it attracts a much more politically diverse spectrum of people of all ideas and ages. This allows for balance in providing a meaningful sense of unity across party lines. The lineup of people who participated in forums, debates, expos, town halls, and panels reflects America’s political diversity.

The first thing that is right in front of your face when you walk into the convention is the Baby Trump Balloon. It is located outside of the theaters, where vendors fill the open space for organizations, companies, and businesses to sell political gear.

On Saturday, the day kicked off with the Republican Presidential Candidates who are running against Donald Trump—Fmr. Gov. Bill Weld (R-MA), Fmr. Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), and Fmr. Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL). They discussed foreign policy, the economy, climate change, and other issues.

Also present was Ann Coulter, a conservative pundit who became famous for critiquing the Clinton administration. She was one of President Trump’s most loyal supporters ever since he announced his campaign for president. In a conversation with David Frum, another conservative pundit, she discussed how one of her books, iAdios America!, was considered one of the major influences on the topic of immigration during the 2016 election.

One of the most contentious moments of the day was the fierce debate between Tomi Lahren and Ana Kasparian. Tomi Lahren is a firebrand conservative media host who currently works for Fox News. She used to work at The Blaze, but her contact got discontinued because of controversial comments. Ana Kasparian is a progressive commentator mostly known for her work at The Young Turks. The Young Turks were founded by Cenk Uygur, another progressive voice who immigrated to America from Turkey.

Sean Hannity, Fox News primetime host, and James Carville, CNN contributor, went head-on in debating issues. They discussed issues like the Trump impeachment, accomplishments of the President, etc. Closing the night was a feud between Donna Brazile and Reince Priebus. These two people had the opportunity to serve as the chairman/chairwoman of their parties. They were permitted to discuss their experiences during their tenure and other opinions.

Sunday was more relaxed compared to the Saturday schedule. James Carville returned to interview Fmr. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about her exit from the White House, impeachment, and the President’s personal thoughts and feelings.

Daily Wire host Michael Knowles and Chris Hahn, a former staffer to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), sparked in their debate about climate change and activist Greta Thunberg. They clarified comments that were made previously in a Fox News interview that was commonly discussed on social media. Knowles referred to the 16-year-old as a “mentally-ill Swedish child”, which resulted in Hahn ordering Knowles to take back the comment. They also talked about economic policies and health care.

Finally, to close up the weekend, two of the most profound, prominent figures came at each other in the most intense, informative debate of the weekend. Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and Kyle Kulinski, host of The Kyle Kulinski Show, were the two participants. This was a high action-packed argument that boldened both sides of the issues of income inequality, taxation, health care, and foreign policy.

Overall, this experience was delightful. I left the convention feeling much smarter having listened to everyone express their political minds. I may not have agreed with everything everybody said, but obtaining mutual respect for political rivals is necessary to advance in a civil society.