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CLEVELAND, Ohio (WKBN) – Thursday is the night the nation will hear from the Republican nominee for president. Donald Trump will speak on stage at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland when he formally accepts his party’s nomination.
Even though the week hasn’t gone as planned, the Republican Party has one more chance Thursday night and Trump is hoping to deliver just like he does in the business world.
Trump took a walk onstage Thursday afternoon to see his surroundings before his address that will close the Cleveland convention.
Nearly everything on the stage is new. The podium was changed for the Republican nominee, the stage is trimmed in gold, even the lighting has a gold tint.
Thursday night’s program, “Make America One Again,” begins at 7:30 p.m. Headliners include evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, Jr., Ivanka Trump and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.
If Donald Trump came to Cleveland looking for support, he’s found it tough attracting people to join him. Going into day four the convention, party leaders are focused on unity – a concept that’s been somewhat elusive.
“This has been a political season like none other,” said Ohio delegate Mark Munroe.
Trump’s campaign has struggled to encourage and welcome people to join the campaign. He needs a very large percentage of the base Republican party to reach the White House and right now, he’s not getting it.
Trump needs to be strong and convincing in order to encourage the party.
“It’s a man that thinks, takes his time and puts together a plan,” said Jeff Green, of Youngstown.
Ivanka Trump is expected to address ‘unity’ tonight before her father formally accepts the GOP presidential nomination.
Heading into Thursday morning, two names dominated the conversion and neither one was Trump.
Ted Cruz was booed off stage Wednesday night after he told the crowd to “vote their conscience” in November.
COMPLETE 2016 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION NEWS
Following Cruz’s comments and subsequent booing, Trump entered the arena. He later brushed off Cruz’s comments as “no big deal.” He added that he saw Cruz’s speech earlier and “let him speak anyway.”
Munroe said Trump is not the type of person who burns bridges.
“He gave Cruz an opportunity and I think it says as much about Donald Trump as it does about Ted Cruz,” Munroe said.
Besides Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has also refused to endorse Trump and hasn’t even been to the convention.
The Cruz spectacle took the spotlight off of vice presidential nominee and Indiana Governor Mike Pence who urged voters to choose a candidate “who will fight every day to make America great again.”
It’s been a big week for Youngstown native and RNC Press Secretary Dave O’Neil as he works to get the party’s message out. He certainly hoped for a smoother, more consistent pitch.
The convention has been a little rockier than the party expected, but O’Neil has remained positive through it all. He says this is just one week and there are nearly four months to the election.
O’Neil says there are large pockets of support for Trump, and he is hoping that northeast Ohio can help return a Republican to the White House.
“This primary battle was fierce. Look forward to continuing that tonight,” he said.
O’Neil points out that Trump won Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties even though Kasich won Ohio. Trump has gotten more votes than any other Republican candidate in the history of primaries.
The program Thursday night will end with balloons, about 120,000 of them in red, white and blue. The balloons have been provided from the same company — Glasshouse Balloon Company out of California, which has done the balloon drops at the RNC since 1988. They are inflated by students from the Cleveland area, according to Cleveland.com.
Photos: 2016 Republican National Convention
Make WKBN 27 First News your source for RNC coverage. Our team of experienced reporters will be in Cleveland all week reporting on what’s going on in the arena and on the streets. Live coverage continues throughout the day. See our special feature 2016 Republican National Convention for all of our reports online.
