CLEVELAND- Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has a a lot of ideas about how to attract new voters to the Republican Party, defeat ISIS, fund the military, stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and help America’s veterans, and he’s not shy about sharing them at the Republican convention even if at times he is more specific and detail-oriented than the party’s actual nominee.
As the Republican Party grapples with what to do about unconventional Donald Trump, Army veteran Cotton is laying out his own vision for the Republican Party and taking advantage of a national stage that has catapulted dozens of political careers before him.
Cotton will speak Monday night at the convention on an evening when national security is the focal point, but he gave a preview Monday afternoon telling the audience that he believes the U.S. needs to walk way from the Iran nuclear deal and that it is time for politicians to stop “fanning the flames” of racial tensions in the wake of police shootings.
“Frankly, I think a lot of political leaders need to stop fanning the flames of racial division,” Cotton said Monday in Cleveland at an event hosted by The Atlantic. “Because there is a police shooting does not mean the police are racist or that police officer did anything wrong. You cannot know that until there is an investigation that takes place.”
But Cotton, also hinted that the GOP needs to be doing more than it is to expand its base.
“Party unity is not enough. We cannot just be a unified party we have to be a growing party,” Cotton said. “Let’s just face the facts we’ve lost two [presidential elections],” Cotton said. “We have to grow our parties and reach voters who haven’t been voting for us in presidential elections.”
Cotton doubled down on the need for immigration reform, but took a slightly different tack than Trump’s hard line position. Instead of insinuating that immigrants were dangerous, Cotton said that many were good individuals looking for a better life for themselves and their families.
Cotton was speaking against the backdrop of a convention that is still unsettled, with a floor fight erupting Monday afternoon and some states walking out of the convention hall. While some delegates and attendees celebrate the opportunity to nominate candidate that as former RNC Chairman Michael Steel put it Monday during a panel “flips everybody the bird,” others still harbor deep concerns that in its single-minded effort to stop Hillary Clinton, the Republican Party is fundamentally sacrificing its values and changing its DNA.
“This convention is something different,” Republican strategist Ed Rogers told TPM in an interview. “There isn’t total unity. There just isn’t. That is unusual.”
But the dissatisfaction within the party is also opening up the opportunity for a new generation of leaders to make their mark. As the party struggles to coalesce around Trump, Cotton is making his ambitions known, acting as a foil to a nominee who many view as inconsistent on conservative ideology and short on specifics.
On Monday, Cotton spoke at the South Carolina Republican delegation’s morning breakfast and didn’t once utter Trump’s name, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. Instead, he focused on Republican gains that have been made in Congress and in state legislatures around the country.
Cotton’s widely seen as a competitive candidate in 2020 even as he described the next Republican election as a “ways off,” during his remarks on the Atlantic panel.
However, at a convention where other party stars are shirking the limelight in an effort to distance themselves from Trump, Cotton is using it as a launching pad. In addition to addressing the South Carolina delegation, Cotton is also expected to speak to delegations from other early primary states and battlegrounds at the convention like New Hampshire and Iowa. The L.A. Times reported he spoke to Ohio’s delegation on Monday morning.
“Political conventions are very often platforms to build somebody’s stature in the party whether the nominee goes on to win or lose,” Rogers said. “He just has the right mix of bio and age that puts him a a good position to be an inspiring capable leader for the party.”
