CLEVELAND -- None of Arkansas' top Republican leaders supported Donald Trump in the state's March 1 primary, but now that the party's presidential nominating convention is here, they're lining up to back him.
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Five of the six Republicans in the state's congressional delegation are present. State constitutional officers, legislators and longtime GOP activists have also arrived to show their support for their party's presumptive nominee.
A day before the convention's start, Gov. Asa Hutchinson told fellow Arkansas Republicans that Trump is their standard-bearer and the party's last, best hope of defeating Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.
"The only way we're going to win in November is if we unite ourselves behind Donald Trump and Mike Pence as our presidential nominee and vice presidential nominee. That is the way we're going to prevent Obamacare [from] becoming Hillarycare. That's the only way we're going to avoid the Supreme Court of the United States becoming a Hillary court. That's the only way we're going to have a chance of not having our tax system dominated by the liberal philosophy of Hillary Clinton," Hutchinson said Sunday. "We have one shot at this to get it right this week, and that is to join in the support for Donald Trump for president."
About 175 Arkansans are staying at the Cleveland Airport Marriott, and most of them were present for Hutchinson's speech; three busloads of activists and elected officials will be heading to the Quicken Loans Arena today for the convention's opening session.
"I think this is the largest group of Arkansans ever to attend a Republican National Convention, certainly since the Rockefeller days," said Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Doyle Webb. "There's a lot of enthusiasm and momentum [among] Republicans in Arkansas."
Love of party and opposition to Clinton are the two things that unite Arkansans at the convention, whether they were originally for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee or one of the 13 other Republicans who tried and failed to win the nomination.
Hutchinson, who originally supported Huckabee and later backed Rubio, stressed that he would back Trump's candidacy but not necessarily all of his policy positions.
"My goal is to win in November and to preserve the principles of the party that we hold dear," he said. "Sometimes there'll be differences, and that's OK. We need to recognize the differences, embrace the differences as needed, articulate the differences. ... My goal is to help shape a Trump presidency, to move it in the right direction that supports the principles of the party that we have fought for. That's where I am in this."
While some delegates from other states still want to denounce Trump or derail his candidacy, there's no sign that any Arkansans in Cleveland have joined that movement.
Jonathan Barnett, a Republican national committeeman from Siloam Springs, said Trump's opponents are heavily outnumbered and have been outmaneuvered.
Trump needs 1,237 of the 2,472 delegates to win. He has more than 1,500, most of them bound delegates.
"The game's over. We have a nominee," Barnett said. "They're just not happy, but I think most of them will come around. I really do."
The convention opens this afternoon and runs until Thursday evening, the night Trump is scheduled to give his acceptance speech.
In downtown Cleveland, there is heavy security. Entire blocks are shut down. Roads are barricaded. Law enforcement officers -- from the Secret Service and Homeland Security down to local jailhouse employees -- are patrolling the streets.
As delegates prepared for Sunday's pre-convention activities, they heard the reports about a shootout in Baton Rouge in which three officers were killed and another three injured.
Televisions in the hotel lobby and smartphone news alerts delivered details of the tragedy.
"There's so many words to describe it -- evil, horrific, tragic, sad -- and no one word fully captures it, the moment, the emotions, when something like this happens," Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin said.
In a city saturated with public safety officers, Griffin said, he isn't worried about his own safety or the safety of other delegates.
"I'm sure everything here's going to be fine, but it just adds to the sense that there is a new ... level of violence and disrespect toward law enforcement that a lot of us really haven't experienced before, and that's a very bad thing," he said.
Trump has called himself the "law and order" candidate, and he'll soon be delivering his message to the nation.
He'll be talking about national safety at a time when France is recovering from a terrorist attack and the police forces in Baton Rouge and Dallas are dealing with the aftermath of attacks on officers.
Arkansas Republicans said they hope Trump will use his time on the convention stage to reassure and inspire Americans.
"All eyes are on Cleveland right now, just as they will be next week ... on Philadelphia [for the Democratic convention], so it's an opportunity for both parties to make their case in the broadest sense," said U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford. "I think we make the better case."
U.S. Rep. French Hill said he hopes Trump will "talk about the things [he'll] do to get the economy moving again, keep the homeland safe [and] make sure that we have the right national security and foreign affairs policy for the country."
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton said voters will be receptive to the Republican message.
"Americans over the last eight years have picked us to be their governing party because they think that we're going to make America safer and make it more prosperous, and I suspect that's the story that they're going to hear this week during the convention and it will be a big success for us," he said.
Huckabee said television viewers will witness Republican unity tonight and throughout the week.
"The party's going to come together in support of Trump and Mike Pence. There's never been any doubt in my mind that the attempts by some of the more petulant portions of our party were going to fall short, and they have," Huckabee said. "I think we're going to win in November. I really do."
Metro on 07/18/2016