The Republican National Convention will take place in Milwaukee next week, and a state representative from St. Bernard Parish will be among Louisiana's delegates at the convention.
Rep. Mike Bayham (R-Chalmette) says a couple of unknowns could impact how the Republicans campaign for Donald Trump this fall.
The biggest of those unknowns is the Democratic Party's infighting. Bayham says if the Democrats who want to oust Biden from their presidential ticket succeed in their goal, Republicans' efforts to elect Donald Trump could be complicated.
"We don't know who our opponent is," Bayham, who has served as a GOP delegate previously, said. "Right now, we know our game plan is against Joe Biden, but if you swap him out, all of a sudden things are different. You have to be concerned with the novelty factor. If you have someone new and if Biden is not the Democratic nominee, you're going to have someone that almost certainly won't have his age and some of the challenges he has."
Bayham adds that the timing of any announcements by Democrats could negatively impact the GOP's campaign efforts.
"We could have someone pop out of the blue with only a few months to go between now and early November, and the Republican Party is going to have to make a brand new case against someone that just materialized at their Democratic Convention in Chicago," Bayham said.
Bayham notes that whoever Trump picks as his running mate will have a major influence on the outcome of the race.
"Does the individual that Donald Trump selects . . . is that male or female going to add something big to the ticket in terms of geography (or) in terms of a new angle in reaching particular voters?" Bayham said. "There's a lot at play, and we won't know who Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee will be probably until right up into the convention."
The Republican National Convention begins on Monday, July 15 and continues through Thursday, July 18.
