Thank you for joining us on day two of the 2020 Republican National convention. You can find this event and the latest Convention News on our Convention Hub at thehill. Com. This program is also coming to you live on facebook and twitter. The presidency is not the only race up for grabs in november. Today, we look for the battle for control of congress and other down ballot races. We have terrific guests joining us, but before we dive in i would like to thank the American Petroleum institute for their support of the event. Along with the president ial campaign, congressional and other down ballot races have also been affected by the pandemic. What that could mean for republicans as they seek to control retain control of the senate and take back the house. Before we get underway, a few housekeeping notes you can tweet us at the hill events using thehill2020. We are live and we could experience occasional troubles with the video, usually refreshing the page will fix the problem. Now, to kick things off, i am joined by a former florida congressman. He is a principal of communications and has been retained as an advisor by the miami mayor. A partner at rock strategy was the first person to serve in to serve as the lead spokesman in both the house and senate. And a rising star in the Republican Party and is currently cofounder of georgia speaks, an initiative meant to approach issues through Kitchen Table style events. Welcome to you all. Congressman, i was interested in the news last week that roughly two dozen former republican members have signed on the biden campaigned. Basically they have endorsed joe biden. In 2016, you voted for a third party. Are you going to support joe biden in 2020 or President Trump or a third party . Good morning and many thanks to the hill. I decided that my best contribution to democracy these days are to speak the objective truth, either through my work as an analyst and contributor. Or in venues like this one. I think there is a major truth crisis in this country. There is a tribalization crisis in our country. I think people who simply call it like it is, analyze what is going on and share with people their insights have plenty of contributions to make. I am not going to be campaigning for either candidate. I will not be endorsing either candidate and i will not be discussing what i decide to do with my vote this year. As an analyst, how do you think last night went . Day one. Dark, andt was a bit the flip of that coin is republicans coming into the convention said if trump is going to win, he has to make this a choice, not a referendum. What was your analysis . There was certainly a juxtaposition between the colorfulthere were people and as a person of color i was happy to see the diversity that republicans put on stage. However, the messaging was fairly dark. There was a lot of fear, demonizing of the other side. I am a fan of campaigns and candidates who propose ideas and alternatives and try to inspire people with a new solution to challenges that we face. There are plenty of those today. I give them high marks for the imagery and diversity they put on stage, but unfortunately, i think the message left a lot of people wishing for more. What are President Trumps plans for the next four years . We already know the Republican Party decided not to present a platform this year. That was disconcerting. Parties that become about one person or about the cult of personality do not tend to do well in the long term. So yeah, there were some good and bad last night for sure. Asi want to go to you as far the convention and what we saw last night. We did see a lot of diversity in the Republican Party. There is not a lot of diversity as far as representation on capitol hill on the republican side. How do you think it went . To be fair, there was a lot of fear on the democratic side. Basically you have to fear a second term of President Trump should he win. What was your analysis of what has been going on so far in with so far and what they need to do . That is a great point. There there was fear on both sides. That is because we are living in scary times. What happened on the republican side is they showed you the reality of things and optimism as well. They discussed many issues that i feel would be awesome when it comes to inspiring people and building momentum. We clearly have face the music. Two we have a pandemic. We have riots busting out everywhere. We have Police Officers afraid to do their jobs. This is where we are. Sending a message of the sanity of america, i think with the Republican Party did was show the diversity of america and showed there are people and real people dealing with real crises. There are a lot of people who have hope and faith in america. I thought it was great. I agree, the imagery was awesome. I loved seeing so much diversity. I know we will see that throughout the rest of the week. I think they did a great job. Off to a great start. Let me go to you as far as the political wind. Seenave seemed the wind the wind at the republicanss back. Republicans feel good about retaining the house and winning back the senate. You and i both know that 70 days is an attorney in politics. What does the Republican Party daysto do over the next 70 to turn joe biden into a michael dukakis, who was also up in the polls . First of all, thank you for having me on the air, i really appreciate it. It is exciting to be here. First i want to say i think republicans are off to a good start with the convention. Last night was very effective. It had much more Compelling Television than i think the first night of the Democratic Convention and that showed in some of the ratings we have seen. It will be important for republicans to continue to contrast joe biden to this administration. Meaning that biden has been around for decades and the fact of the matter is, the republicans were elected into office because joe biden and president obama set up the condition for that Sweeping Change in 2016. Republicans need to continue to tie biden to the failed decades that he was in office. I think it is going to boil down to october. The last two weeks of october will matter what the conditions are, the state our country is in. Throughout this whole time, we have seen trump base at 42 to 44 Approval Ratings for the president. They havent moved. Thereds to reach in, needs to be a little more there for President Trump to bring it across the finish line. By contrasting joe biden as somebody that is part of the failed, tired, policies that have not solved the countrys problems i think will go a long way. Bob what do you focus on to go beyond the base . You know from 2016, there was dissension in the Republican Party. Remember ted cruz famously said vote your conscience, which was one of the most shocking things ive seen at a convention. What does the president need . His base is stronger than it was in 2016, he has built it and he is now the Republican Party. We are not seeing a lot of conflict in the party, we are seeing some not like 2016. What issues or things do they need to talk about . Is it health care . Obviously covid has to get better. What would you stress . Ron i would stress the economy. I would talk about what it was like that is what we will hear about, what it was like, precovid. What he will do for the next four years to solve the economy, to improve the health care system. Obviously to tackle covid19. They are doing things in real time, like announcing the plasma strategy. They need to be proactive, more on talking about what they are going to do. That would be very different from joe biden and what he was saying. They were running on a message last week that joe biden is a good guy and a moral guy and someone caring and compassionate. They did not talk about policies. I think if republicans can talk detail what they are going to do with the economy and with health care, that will go a long way. The bottom line is showing President Trump is a strong leader. I think it matters that he is out there and going to North Carolina and traveling and now we are seeing him doing airport hangar rallies, so to speak. That is very different from joe biden sitting at home in delaware. It will really matter. Showing up still counts in the election despite our zoom video calls, which i am proud to be part of today. But when you see the president going in front of even smaller crowds and showing he is there will make a big difference. Bob congressman, as far as the lead joe biden has, as an analyst, where do you think the weakness is for joe biden and the Democratic Party . Last week we did not hear a lot about law and order and the violent protests. There have been violent protests. We have seen that. Do democrats need to talk more about that, about getting certain cities under control, or is there another weakness . The greatest risk for joe biden is get associated with the more radical elements in the Democratic Party, be that Bernie Sanders or as republicans have passed this week, the idea that democrats want to defund the police and support rioting or looting. That is the fear for joe biden. What the president and his team are trying to do to joe biden is what they did to Hillary Clinton. It was easy to demonize Hillary Clinton, because she was a controversial figure, and still is today. She and her husband have been surrounded by scandal their entire political careers, so it was easy to do that. For Hillary Clinton, it was difficult to build a coalition to reach into the middle and win over the more skeptical voters. Joe biden understands, it appears, what the risks and weaknesses are, and that is why there was so much effort to unify the country last week. Why joe biden reached out to the middle and went out of his way to say that if the people did not vote for him, he would still be their president. They know that is your vulnerability and what donald trump is going for, to scare the swing voters that will decide the election like they did in all elections. If theycratic ticket, want to protect their lead, they have to be explicit and clear about what policies and ideas they support, and in some cases, what groups and organizations they identify with and which they dont. Onesagain, the white suburban voters are likely to play a role in this election again. The president and his team are trying to make up for some of those losses that we saw in 2018 in congressional districts throughout the country, by consolidating some support in hispanic and african americans. At the end of the day, team trump will need to regain the trust and confidence of some of those white suburban voters if in some of theed states that propelled them to victory in 2016. They appear to be with the bidenharris ticket today, and Vice President biden and his team have to be wary of the fact that the president is coming after those voters and the tool they are using is fear, trying to tie joe biden to some of the more radical elements of the Democratic Party. Harder to do than it was against Hillary Clinton. Bob i want to talk about georgia. Two big senate races. The polls in the president ial race are tight in estate that n in 2016. What is the mood in the state and are you confident republicans can hold both seats . If they lose one seat, the senate may flip. Janelle the mood in the state is just trying to figure out what is happening with the pandemic. I think you have to always keep that in the forefront. That is where people, their mind is right now. I will say that i dont see us losing republicans losing the state of georgia by any means. The reason why i say that is because the message i heard last night and the message coming out of the administration is a message that relates to rural georgia as well as metro atlanta. There has to be more than we want to be president. The democrats are not giving the thatents here any hope there are platforms that will make their lives better. I think that is what the administration is doing. As it relates to senate races, senator leffler is doing a tremendous job with rallying the troops. Tour last week and another one this week that will move her around the state. She is bringing surrogates. I know senator scott be in georgia this coming friday. She is doing really well. She has surpassed all of her opponents. As of senator purdue, he is facing a challenger who through who threw 30 million in the race when he ran against karen handel in the sixth district and still lost. I think right now we are dealing with he is the stronger candidate. He has a bigger platform. Senator purdue is a proven leader. He has been able to maintain his identity and not get swallowed up in the energy President Trump provides. I think that people are seeing that. I feel confident that georgia will be fine. Georgia is definitely the state to watch. That exciting, it is an exciting time to be in politics. Bob ron, is florida, the congressmans home state, a must win for trump in november . Ron absolutely. President trump won it last time and it is a key state for him to get to reelection. I think it is entirely possible and i think he is going to absolutely win the state of florida, no doubt about it. Bob congressman, do you agree with that . Rep. Curbello the polls give joe biden a slight advantage. It is a virtual tie. Two key blocks in the state of florida will tilt the state one way or the other. Can the president get an enthusiastic turnout from south florida, hispanic americans, many who support him, especially his Foreign Policy toward latin america, and can he win back some of those white suburban corridor,the i4 which he did very well with in 2016. There was some erosion therefore erosion for republicans in 2018. If he can get hispanics in south florida to turnout enthusiastically for him, i and the white suburban voters in the central part of the state, i think he can definitely carry the state. I also think the bidenharris ticket will compete here. It is probably going to be a close election in florida the way it usually is, and could be a decisive state the way it was in 2000. Bob it is a key state more for trump than others. Panel, i want to thank you. You were all great. Thank you for joining us. Is the president of the Republican State Leadership Committee. He will be interviewed by reid wilson. I think your microphone is needed muted. Reid sorry about that. Living in the age of zoom. Thank you for kicking it over. Austin chambers, the president of the state Republican Leadership committee. Thank you for joining us. We Pay Attention to senate and house races. Thats talk about the state legislative races. Why should people be paying attention . Austin good to be on with you. Thank you for having us. Right now, everything is on the line in 2020, from the president ial race down to the statehouse. Everything is on the line. There are dozens there are 14 states across the country that are critical for us, where if we races, we statehouse will be locked out of power in congress for at least the next decade. No one in washington draws their own map. What we have to make sure of is that we win the state legislative races so republicans have a chance to control congress for the next decade and we dont allow nancy pelosi to strengthen her grip on congress. The 2010 election the last , time redistricting was at stake for republicans, you do rew maps to ensure a Republican Congress for eight solid years. Dive into the redistricting a little more. In some states, what is the difference between being a minority and majority . Austin when you look at the target states across the country, 42 legislative seats could swing congress by as much as 136 seats. That is the public estimates of the best Case Scenario for the map,lican map to democrat 42136. In some state you have a oneseat margin and in some you have a three seat margin. North carolina is a critical state. It is as tight as it could get and it comes down to, can republicans hold onto these chambers and make sure there is fair and accurate redistricting . If we do that, we have a shot of having power in washington for the next decade. If not, we will be locked out of state policy power and locked out of washington. Reid you mentioned North Carolina. What other states do we need to Pay Attention to . Austin our main priorities right now are texas, new york, georgia, florida, minnesota, North Carolina, wisconsin, iowa, arizona. There are others as well but that is our focus right now. If republicans can win in those, not only is it important politically and from a state policy standpoint, but we will be in great shape for redistricting post 2020 senses. Census. Reid a lot of the states you mentioned are the critical battleground states for the president ial contest, for the senate races how does that impact the state legislative races. A Strong Campaign might bring 100,000. How do you compete and make a difference when you are the 17th or 18th race on the ballot . Austin the National Election certainly impacts this. There are 115 districts across our target states that donald trump won in 2016 that he will likely win in 2020. We need him to be successful in those so we can win those districts. Districts down ballot. There are some places where we will have to win where the president might not do so well in. Having the president on the ballot is a great