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By Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Republican nominee Donald Trump has made strides at the Republican National Convention (RNC) toward unifying the party, but more challenges lie ahead for his presidential bid.
In a nationally televised speech at the RNC to accept the nomination on Thursday night, Trump tried hard to control the narrative of what's wrong with the country and the solutions to fix it.
With an emphasis on bringing law and order to the U.S. amid increased anti-police violence and terrorism, the brash billionaire attempted to show his leadership and capability.
Trump's speech, more than an hour long, covered a laundry list of issues, from his vow to stand by the police, to defeat the Islamic State terror group and to boost the lackluster U.S. economy.
"Trump made progress in bringing Republicans together with his law and order pitch and emphasis on ending chaos around the world," Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies of the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.
"He presented himself as the one person with the leadership skills to deal with domestic and foreign policy challenges," West said. "Many leading Republicans are not on board yet, but the rank and file is united against Hillary Clinton."
Whatever personal doubts they have about Trump pales in comparison to their hatred of Hillary Clinton, who is set to clinch the Democratic nomination next week, West said.
Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, told Xinhua that the speech aimed to energize his base, not unify the Republican Party, which it probably did.
Trump's other goal was to offer a broader message about law and order that could persuade Republicans who were wavering that voting for him is better than a vote for Clinton, he said.
The New York mogul also wanted to shape the national conversation, especially among Republicans, and to paint Clinton in a very particular way, Zelizer said.
But there are more challenges ahead, as Clinton gears up for the Democratic National Convention next week in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
While Trump had success with the RNC, it may be short-lived and overshadowed by Clinton's performance at the Democratic convention.
"Trump will get a small bounce out of the convention, but it will be truncated by the fact that Clinton announces her vice presidency pick and Democrats will have their own convention next week," West said.
That will shift the spotlight back to Clinton and give her a major platform to label Trump as divisive and unqualified for the job, he said.
Moreover, independents remain wary about Trump, experts said.
On the one hand, the independent voters like Trump's talk and tough foreign policy, but on the other hand, they don't like his rude comments about women and immigrants.
"They find his overall tone offensive and worry if he is too risky to do the job of president," West said.
Zelizer added that he doesn't believe the convention speech helped Trump with independent voters.
"I don't think they will like him any better. It was a compilation of the same themes from the primaries," he said of Trump's speech. Enditem
