Oregon RNC committeewoman shares her view from Milwaukee

The Republican National Convention is underway in Milwaukee. On Monday, Donald Trump picked Ohio senator and author J.D. Vance as his running mate. Tracy Honl is the RNC national committeewoman for Oregon. She joins us with details from the convention.

The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer:

Dave Miller:  This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. It is only day two of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. But it has already been a dramatic show. Yesterday afternoon, former President Donald Trump named first term Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate. Then in the evening, Trump made his first public appearance since the assassination attempt on Saturday. Tracy Honl is one of 85 Oregon Republicans at the convention this year. She is the state’s RNC national committeewoman and a small business owner in Astoria. She joins us now. Tracy Honl, welcome.

Tracy Honl:  Thank you.

Miller:  Were you in the arena last night when the former president made that appearance, just 48 hours or so after he’d survived the assassination attempt?

Honl:  I was. It was a bit of a surprise. We normally don’t see our candidate on day one. And there started to be a buzz that sounded like he was coming. The entire arena just got the energy, got even more excited, and everybody cheered real loud, watched and yelled, “We love Trump.” [He] came in, and it was just a really phenomenal and neat experience to be there when that happened.

Miller:  You, if I’m not mistaken, went to the Republican National Conventions in 2016 and 2020. Were those your first two conventions?

Honl:  Yes, this is my third.

Miller:  Three for three. All of them with Trump as the party’s nominee. How does this one compare so far in tone?

Honl:  It’s a similar tone. I think everybody’s always really excited about a presidential nominee. I think that the tone changed a little bit with the assassination attempt. The standard “hey, we’re excited, we’re going to go nominate, our candidate” became something even more. And so you see tears. Last night when [former] president Trump came in the venue, people were crying. Our Oregon delegate, tears, because what we experienced was so significant. And it was touching in [a way] that I hadn’t seen in previous conventions. So, I’d say that there’s more heart, there’s more real feeling, like this is a really big, important, special deal.

Miller:  Security is always intense at these conventions. I’ve been to, I guess, six of them over the years and my memory is spending half the time of each of those weeks, just wending my way through lines. Then when you get to the checkpoints, they take security very seriously. Is it even more intense now? Does it feel that way because of that assassination attempt?

Honl:  I don’t feel like from my previous experience … Now, in 2020, it was a completely different deal because of COVID. So the number of people was significantly smaller. But from 2016 to now there was a lot of security, a lot of lines both times. We’re all aware of it in our minds and I think people are a little bit more patient and understanding with it than normal. And yes, this is proper, this is what we have to do. But they were really, I thought, thorough in ‘16, and I think they’ve been really thorough and good here. And I think people have been really patient on both sides, waiting to get through, and the lines are long. It does slow us down quite a bit, but we know why we’re doing it.

Miller:  Let’s turn to one of the big news items from yesterday. If you and I had talked yesterday morning and I asked you this question: “Who do you want the former president to pick for his running mate?” Who would you have said?

Honl:  Well, there was a lot of good choices. Personally, I would have loved to see somebody like a Sarah Huckabee Sanders there. I think she’s wonderful. I think someday she will be a great future president. But I was thrilled with J.D. Vance. I was a little bit surprised, but I know several people weren’t. But I was – when we heard the announcement, we were all thrilled.

Miller:  As I’m sure you know, or I assume you know, Senator Vance has said many, many negative things about the former president in the past. He called him “an idiot.” He compared him to Hitler in a private message to a college friend. He said in an interview eight years ago, “I can’t stomach Trump. I think he’s noxious. There’s a chance if I feel like Trump has a really good chance of winning that I might have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton.”

Obviously, people change their minds about things. But this was a very dramatic change of course. A lot of people see this as J.D. Vance seeing where the Republican Party was, seeing that Donald Trump was its undisputed leader and hitching his wagon to the MAGA movement, as a political opportunist. How do you see that change?

Honl:  I see people in this political world change their minds all the time. Things happen in the world. There’s been a significant change in the world, in the country and the things that happened over the last eight years. I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt that he saw what happened. He got to know [former] president Trump. I think people can honestly change their minds, even such significant changes.

I know several people in Oregon who, back in eight, said the same thing, “We don’t like Trump. We’re never going to vote for him. How could you vote for Trump,” who is now calling me and saying, “I get it now, I’m with you.” So he’s not really different from some of the other people we know. Obviously, he’s gonna be, what we believe is going to be, the vice president. But, you know, I think changing your mind is certainly legitimate and I love it. I’m happy for it. It’s an example of, hey, all you guys out there, changing your mind is OK.

Miller:  As long as you change in the right way?

Honl:  Exactly. The right way.

Miller:  OK, so speaking of changing minds, I’m curious how much talk there is – within the delegation there among other folks you’re talking to – about the turmoil among Democrats over Joe Biden as the presumptive nominee?

Honl:  Look, people believe that Biden is not running this country, that he’s not capable of running this country. People are pretty optimistic. I mean, it’s disappointing when you have your Commander-in-Chief who clearly has some significant health mental issues with whatever form of dementia that may be. We’ll see that people recognize that no, there needs to be a change. I think a lot of people would like him to stay in the race because this is where we’re at. The election’s coming up and we believe we’re going to do very well against him.

Miller:  So you’ve heard from people who want him to stay in because you think it’d be easier for Trump to beat him than a younger candidate?

Honl:  A lot of us think Trump is gonna win no matter what. It’s not that. But, yes, Biden would be, for me, the preferred candidate in that race, I think for multiple reasons. Just for democracy in general, the way the system works. The Democrats chose President Biden in every state. They chose him to be their nominee. And I think to change that now doesn’t send a good message to anybody or what it’s about. So I think he should stay in the race, unless he’s going to completely resign as president. But you signed up, let’s finish it. Let’s see how this plays out.

And there’s some mixed feelings there. I’m not speaking for all Republicans. I’m not even speaking for the Oregon delegation. But I know there is a lot of … Biden is the candidate and Biden is the one we’re going to beat. But no matter what happens, no matter what candidate’s in there, the numbers we’ve all seen and what we’re hearing from people, even democrats who are calling us and are not affiliated, friends are calling us and saying, “you know, we think we’re coming your way.” Joe Biden is not an effective leader of the greatest country in the world.

Miller:  What are you most excited about over the next three days and three nights to come?

Honl:  Well, we’ve done the work. We’ve done the platform and the rules. We’ve chosen our Republican presidential and vice presidential candidate. I think the rest of the convention we’re going to hear some great speakers. We’re gonna get everybody excited, get everybody energized. I know the Oregon delegation – I got to say, I’m so proud of these folks. They are the loudest. They’re yelling and having a great time out there supporting the president, supporting Republicans. I’m excited to experience that with our Oregon delegation.

We’re excited for Thursday. We don’t know for sure what’s gonna’ happen, but we expect we’re going to hear from President Trump on Thursday and everybody’s really excited about it. I’m really excited about it. And then finish it up on a big happy, great note, excited note. Then come home and talk to all of our friends, family and neighbors – “Hey guys, let’s be sure you vote this time. Let’s be sure we’re voting for [former] president Trump.” We’ve got a great message and it’s gonna be really fun.

It’s gonna be difficult, but this election is like … the energy is different. I hope after the assassination attempt, I think people see we need to tone it down. We need to tone some of the vitriol down. Republicans, we’re your neighbors, we’re your family, we’re your friends. Let’s all work together. Let’s choose the best person to be our president. And I think we’re going to be really excited about that throughout the course of this election cycle.

Miller:  Tracy Honl, thanks for your time today. I appreciate it.

Honl:  Thank you. Bye bye.

Miller:  Tracy Honl is the RNC national committeewoman for Oregon. She joined us from Milwaukee, outside, in fact, the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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