Republican Party

The crowd gathered on the second night of the Republican National Convention was promised a 60-pound bulldog. And when Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia walked on to the stage without one on Tuesday night, they began shouting the dog’s name in annoyance.“Babydog!” They chanted en masse, with an energy generally reserved only for former President Donald J. Trump or his brand-new running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio.They needn’t have worried. After a brief few sentences, Mr. Justice — who is running for Senate in his state — relented. “I know that a lot of you want to meet my little buddy,” he said.And on cue, out came Babydog, a plump bulldog, belly swaying as she trotted across the stage before being quickly plopped by a human helper into a cushy armchair.Though they may not admit it, the goal of politicians given a speaking slot at a nomination convention is usually to make their mark and have the breakthrough moment of the night. But Babydog set the bar higher and may have upstaged her owner.Mr. Justice in many ways exemplifies the goal Mr. Trump has set this election of winning over voters who once backed Democrats but are eager for a change. He was a registered Republican until he ran as a Democrat for governor in 2016, then swapped parties again less than a year into his term and embraced Mr. Trump and his movement.That message might have been lost given the crowd’s intent focus on Babydog, an English bulldog that Mr. Justice frequently refers to as a “60-pound brown watermelon.” While the governor spoke, CNN put up a graphic declaring that Babydog’s chief interests were her owner, chicken nuggets and napping. Other networks split their shots between Mr. Justice and the dog, whose tongue was wagging along as her owner spoke.Most of Mr. Justice’s speech was standard Republican fare. He praised Mr. Trump, citing his children as evidence of the former president’s moral character, and suggested that America would be “totally unhinged” if Mr. Biden won in November.Still, at the end of his speech, Mr. Justice gave the crowd what they wanted, and what only he was in a position to provide: dog content. “Babydog’s got a prediction for everybody here,” he said, as the bulldog looked on. The prediction was the same one made by most of the speakers in Milwaukee: that Republicans would win in November in a landslide. But Babydog, Mr. Justice said, was confident in this prediction. Why? “Because we’re worth it,” he said.It was a bold assertion from an animal with no mastery of the English language, but admittedly one that revved up the crowd.And it was a hard act to follow, as Representative Jim Banks of Indiana, who had the misfortune to step on the stage next, acknowledged.“I don’t know about you,” he said. “But thank god Babydog is a Republican.” More