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With the Democratic National Convention underway, Republicans have begun to unveil plans for their own event next week, including a divisive speaker list featuring the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters earlier this summer, the Convington teenager captured in a viral interaction with a Native American elder and anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson.

Trump accepts the nomination at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Patricia and Mark McCloskey, the St. Louis homeowners who gained national attention for wielding guns at protesters marching through their private neighborhood, were announced as speakers at the Republican National Convention on Monday, as the Democrats kicked off their first night with headliners Michelle Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

President Trump has repeatedly defended the couple, who was later charged with a class E felony for unlawful use of a weapon, siding with those who thought the McCloskeys had a right to defend their private property with arms.

Also speaking at the RNC is Covington Catholic High School graduate Nicholas Sandmann, who recently settled with multiple news organizations over a 2019 viral video in which the MAGA-clad teen was accused of being disrespectful to Omaha tribe elder Nathan Phillipsbut later footage showed Sandmann and his classmates were themselves being taunted by another group.

Criminal justice reform advocate Alice Johnson, whose life sentence on federal cocaine trafficking charges Kim Kardashian convinced the president to commute two years ago, was revealed as another RNC speaker on Tuesday, intending to showcase the Trump administrations justice reform progress.

Broadening the range of issues the RNC appears poised to address, former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson and Andrew Pollack, the father of Parkland shooting victim Meadow Pollack, will also deliver speeches during the four-day event.

Other speakers include First Lady Melania Trump, several of Trumps children, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, GOP senators Tim Scott and Joni Ernst, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Pennsylvania congressional candidate Sean Parnell.

The RNC runs from Monday, August 24 through August 27. The overall theme for the week will be Honoring the Great American Story, with each day boasting its own tagline: Land of Promise, Land of Opportunity, Land of Heroes and Land of Greatness.

The president is expected to accept the nomination from the White House, drawing concerns over a possible ethics violation, while a group of approximately 300 Republican delegates will gather in-person in Charlotte, North Carolina. After initially fighting to hold an in-person convention in Charlotte and then Jacksonville, Florida, Trump canceled the plan in June due to coronavirus risks. Vice President Mike Pence will speak from Fort McHenry in Maryland.

Bernie Sanders, John Kasich To Pitch Biden To Non-Democrats In DNC Speeches (Forbes)

Donald Trump In The Crosshairs On First Night Of Democratic Convention (Forbes)

All The Republicans Who Have Endorsed Joe Biden For President (Forbes)

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Republican Convention To Feature Slate Of Viral Conservative Stars: St. Louis Couple, Covington Teen And More - Forbes

More Americans approve than disapprove by a 25-point margin.

August 16, 2020, 1:00 PM

3 min read

More Americans approve than disapprove of Joe Biden's choice of Sen. Kamala Harris for the 2020 Democratic ticket by a 25-point margin, 54-29%, in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Approval of the pick ranges from 86-8% among Democrats to 25-55% among Republicans -- notable that one in four Republicans approves. It's 52-29% among independents, potential swing voters in presidential elections.

See PDF for full results.

While reaction to Harris is broadly positive, the margin narrows among those who have strong opinions. Thirty-four percent of Americans strongly approve of her selection, while 22% strongly disapprove, a 12-point margin. One reason is that her strong support slides from 59% among liberals to 35% among moderates (and 17% among conservatives). It's also 30 points lower among racial and ethnic minorities under 40 compared with those who are older.

An undated handout photo shows former Vice President and presumptive Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden with Sen. Kamala Harris, after the campaign announced Biden has chosen Harris as his vice presidential running mate, Aug. 11, 2020.

Seventeen percent overall have no opinion in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates -- and initial impressions can change. Views were similarly positive, 60-34%, when John McCain selected Sarah Palin for the 2008 Republican ticket. Opinions of Palin turned more negative as the campaign progressed.

Seventy-eight percent of Black people and 65% of Hispanics approve of Biden's choice of Harris, compared with 46% of whites; these largely reflect partisan predispositions. Views are similar among women (56-29%) and men (52-30%). It's 55-28% in the suburbs. And results are similar among all adults, registered voters and likely voters alike.

Apart from Republicans, disapproval of Harris' selection is highest among conservatives (especially "very" conservatives), white evangelicals, rural residents and non college-educated white men, all core Trump support groups. Beyond Democrats and Black people, approval peaks among liberals, Northeasterners, those with postgraduate degrees and urban residents.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event, on her first joint appearance with presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden after being named by Biden as his running mate, at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Delaware, Aug. 12, 2020.

This is an initial release from the new ABC/Post poll; see full results, on Good Morning America and here on ABCNews.com, at 6 a.m. Monday.

This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Aug. 12-15, 2020, among a random national sample of 1,001 adults, with 75% reached on cell phones and 25% on landlines. Results have a 3.5 percentage-point error margin for the full sample, including design effects due to weighting. Sampling, field work and data processing by Abt Associates of Rockville, MD. See details on the survey's methodology here.

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54% approve of Harris selection, including 1 in 4 Republicans: POLL - ABC News

U.S. senators left Washington this week without taking action on another round of legislation to respond to the continuing COVID-19 crisis. Why has this proven so difficult? Like many other issues to face Congress in recent years, it has a lot to do with divisions among Republicans.

Recent weeks have seen two hallmarks of Majority Leader Mitch McConnells (R-Ky.) approach to legislating, especially during the Trump era: trying to use a deadlinereal or manufacturedto force favorable action, and in the words of the Washington Posts Robert Costa, letting [White House] players new and old try to take the lead in talks. Then when things fall apart, he talks to the president and gives him the 11th hour options. The problem is, however, that sometimes, both strategies have failedoccasionally spectacularly. In late 2018, for example, after weeks of efforts by the White House to secure funding for a border wall, the McConnell-led Senate tried to avoid a shutdown by adopting a short-term spending bill that would have kept the government open. But when a group of House Republicansled in part by now-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (R-N.C.)convinced the president to hold out for a measure that contained money for the wall, the federal government ended up partially shut down for a record 35 days.

This approachwhich, again, requires delay if it is to be successfulhas been deployed in pursuit of McConnells underlying goal: to preserve the Republicans Senate majority in 2020. In the current circumstances, however, it is unclear that there is agreement among his rank-and-file colleagues about what kind of policy response achieves that goalor whether one is even necessary. There are six seats held by Republicans that Democrats have a reasonable possibility of winning in Novemberin Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Montana, and North Carolinaas compared to just one, in Alabama, that Democrats expect to lose to Republicans. Recent polling of six swing states that include two of these (Arizona and North Carolina) finds popular support for additional direct payments to individuals, funds for state and local governments, and extending the $600-per-week in enhanced unemployment benefits.

But there is a substantial bloc within the Senate GOP conference who does not support those policies, even if they would help their most vulnerable colleagues electorally. Some of these opponents may actually believe, despite economic evidence to the contrary, that continuing to provide enhanced unemployment insurance benefits disincentivizes people to return to work. But more importantly, the anti-deficit rhetoric that many are using to describe their opposition suggests some number of the Republicans may be preparing for a potential Biden presidency in which obstruction of new spending, especially that benefits disadvantaged communities, is framed as fiscal restraint.

Negotiations have been made more complicated by what the White House has chosen to prioritize in negotiations. In particular, some White House priorities, like a payroll tax cut and funding for a new FBI building in downtown Washington, are not shared by Republicans in the Senate. Others, like a tax deduction for business meals, have Senate champions, but are not related to the more substantive issues at stake. While these kinds of smaller issues can be key material for trades in negotiations, focusing on them at the expense of the larger core provisions can make it more difficult to reach an ultimate deal. In addition, the White House has alternately indicated it is and is not willing to move forward without the so-called liability shield for businesses, which McConnell has referred to as his red line in the negotiations. There are certainly times in congressional bargaining where one participant will insist that something is non-negotiable merely to avoid blame for it getting rejected down the road. But, usually, members of the same political party are on the same side of those fights.

The White House been represented in the negotiations by Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Mnuchin has bargained with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi successfully in the past, including over a deal to raise the debt limit and statutory spending caps in 2019. Meadows, on the other hand, has a history as a House member of advocating actions that hurt Republicans chances of keeping the majority. In 2017, for example, Meadows was one of the chief architects of an amendment to the GOPs Obamacare repeal bill that weakened protections for people with pre-existing conditionsa provision on which many Democrats successfully ran against Republicans in the 2018 midterms.

Whether Congress and the White House can manage to revive the enhanced unemployment benefits and otherwise advocate additional, much-needed federal aid remains to be seen. But the well-being of millions of Americans depends on it.

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Why Senate Republicans and the White House cant agree on badly-needed COVID aid - Brookings Institution

Now youre about to see everything. I have been a Democrat from the time I played hooky at school at age 6 to volunteer for Hubert Humphreys 1968 Presidential campaign. I have been a delegate to the last three Democratic National Conventions and served on the National Platform Committee at the 2016 DNC. I currently serve as Deputy Vice Chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.

But somehow Im about to give heartfelt political advice to New Jersey Republicans.

Consider this column is to be a self-styled strand of The Lincoln Project. Surely you know The Lincoln Project. Its the national PAC of establishment Republicans who, having retained their brains and integrity, are repulsed by Donald Trump and are working for Joe Bidens victory. If youre a Democrat as I am, you watch The Lincoln Projects scorched-earth commercials with amazement mixed with envy.

For the good of the country, The Lincoln Party has put partisanship aside. For the good of New Jersey, I will do the same to present this invaluable tip to the Republican leaders among you. It is this:

Stop acting as if you have lost your minds.

Exhibit A is the Republican leader in New Jersey whom I usually consider to be one of the more rational Republicans remaining in the United States: Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield). I adore Jon. Smart, empathetic and funny, hell probably contact me with a warm hello after his reads this critical column.

Remember when Lindsey Graham, before repositioning himself from Trump critic to sycophant to preempt a primary challenge among South Carolina Republicans, said theres something wrong with you if you dont like Joe Biden personally? Same with Jon Bramnick. Hes New Jersey Republican version of Uncle Joe.

But somethings gotten into Jon. Its called COVID-19 politically and not medically, thank God and it has made him go haywire. Gone is public servant with the DNA of the old-time moderate New Jersey Republicanism of Ray Bateman, Tom Kean Sr. and Christie Whitman. Its not that Jon has always been moderate in his voting; its more in his temperament.

When I ran Garden State Equality and lobbied him on marriage equality, Jon made clear he was personally for it and found the arguments of marriage equality opponents to be ridiculous. He also said he would not vote our way because he felt he could not not as a leader of an anti-marriage equality Republican caucus, at least as it was then. At the same time, he gave me helpful insights into colleagues that didnt need to much straining to read the between the lines.

These days, Jons views on COVID-19 echo the Trumpism of Americas basket of deplorable Governors: Ron DeSantis of Florida, Brian Kemp of Georgia and Greg Abbott of Texas. Those three gubernatorial dolts ignored the scientific evidence and pandemic trends right before their very eyes in fact, before all our eyes by reopening their states prematurely in the name of economic growth. Now their states are paying the price with thousands of lives collectively lost that didnt need to be lost.

As those of us with half a brain had anticipated, the red states are shutting down all over again. The temporary uptick in employment will soon give way to an economic tailspin equal to, or worse than, what we saw at the outset of the pandemic a lose-lose for all.

Nationally, Trump Republicans are scurrying to revise their bravado. Mitch McConnell and Foxs Sean Hannity have suddenly found the true religion of wearing masks. Their Governors are slowing down or reversing their reopenings outright. They are eating cardinal-red crow.

But not Jon Bramnick.

This week, Jon assailed Governor Murphy for delaying the opening of indoor restaurants, insisted the Governor should have simply discouraged patrons from dining inside.

Jon, on what planet are you living? Under Governor Murphy, New Jersey has ranked among the handful of states with a downward trend in COVID-19 cases as most the country trends dramatically up. Last week, the number of cases across the United States reached 55,000 in a single day more than all the cases in the first two weeks of the epidemic.

In red states that opened too early, Americans telling the mere suggestion of social distancing to go to hell. Patrons are packing reopened venues like sardines. Youd have to be blind not to see the news coverage. Can you imagine the dangers to New Jersey during this 4th of July weekend?

Of course I believe Americans should have the freedom to be stupid. I dont believe Americans should have the freedom to be homicidally stupid. Freedom of Assembly is not an E-ZPass to the road of murder.

To make matters worse, Bramnick is introducing legislation to force state legislature to meet in person during COVID-19 instead of by Zoom, as most workplaces now do. Thats a recipe for disaster I take personally. My second mom, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, is 85. Shes at high risk for COVID. But Lorettas being Loretta, indefatigably devoted to serving the public and as vigorous as ever, she went to Trenton this week. Thats when I turned the tables and became her Jewish mother, scolding her out of love.

Jon, you are in the throes of cognitive political dissonance. For whatever reasons, you dont see that Trumps support has sunk to the point of no return and is now eroding even his Make America Great Again base. But there never was much of his base anyway in New Jersey. Meanwhile, prominent New Jersey Republicans, normally more sane than Trump, continue to host, sponsor or attend fundraisers for him. It baffles the mind.

What New Jersey Republicans ought to be doing is what Minnesota Republicans did years ago to appeal to moderates: They changed the official name of the state party to Independent Republican and didnt give a damn what the national party thought. Today Minnesota Republicans, though having jettisoned the independent part of their name, are at rough parity in power with the states legendary Democratic Party, the DFL.

This much we know: Assuming Governor Murphy doesnt wind up in the Biden cabinet, he will win reelection next year in a landslide, deservedly so. But theres more at stake for New Jersey Republicans the state partys long-term viability. On the national political scene, New Jersey is cobalt blue in Presidential elections and U.S. Senate races, with a 10 to 2 Democratic advantage in our House delegation. Democrats have also mastered control of the state legislature. In gubernatorial elections, however, New Jersey remains stubbornly purple.

But if Republican leaders, including a decent man in Jon Bramnick, keep acting as if they have lost their minds and should be Republicans for Mississippi, New Jersey voters will obliterate their state party into extinction.

And it will be too late to Make the Whigs Great Again.

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NJ Republicans, You're in the Throes of Cognitive Political Dissonance - InsiderNJ

That's why it's perhaps surprising that Republican voters and lawmakers have been disagreeing with Trump quite a bit lately.

This follows what happened in North Carolina a little more than a week ago. Trump (and Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows) endorsed Lynda Bennett, but she didn't come close to winning. Instead, it was political newcomer Madison Cawthorn who earned the Republican nomination.

Any of these losses on their own wouldn't be noteworthy, and none of the winning candidates were anti-Trump. Still, it's quite unusual for an incumbent president to support three primary losers in about a three-week period. Just being pro-Trump is not enough to survive.

If nothing else, these defeats show a President who is perhaps not as in touch with his constituents as we might have believed.

Republican lawmakers, too, have shown a willingness to buck Trump a number of times over the past few weeks.

These rebukes of the President should not be seen as campaign-altering events for 2020. Trump still enjoys a lot of support from Republicans in and out of Washington.

For a President who will need to squeeze every bit possible out of the Republican base, any defections are damaging. There seems to be more of a willingness for Republicans to do that lately.

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Trump's on a losing streak with Republicans - CNN