After watching the GOP convention, I found myself reminiscing about original episodes of Seinfeld (Thursday nights at 9) and new CD’s from Nirvana (bought at, egads, Tower Records), all while sipping a Zima in a grungy flannel shirt. Technological advances aside- AT&T released a revolutionary product in ’92, a videophone ($1499)- the last two nights in Cleveland looked eerily similar to the convention 24 years ago. Namely, a heavy and repeated dose of Clinton bashing; sex scandals and draft dodging have been replaced with Benghazi and emails. Attacking Clinton was the raison d’etre of that quadrennial rally in Houston, much as it is for this one. With Trump’s political inexperience and divisiveness- you’re either with him or against him, to paraphrase W.- the best option is to destroy your opponent, a time tested strategy that eviscerated Dukakis and Kerry, among others.

The rancid tone of this convention (gleeful chants of “Lock Her Up!”) mirrors the vitriol expressed in ’92. The high-er, lowlight- of that edition was Pat Buchanan’s “Culture War speech,” a sulfuric rant laced with intolerance and hate. He railed against abortion, homosexuals, women in combat, and basically anyone who failed to sufficiently toe the God line. (As humorist Molly Ivins quipped, “It probably sounded better in the original German.”) Pat Robertson and Marilyn Quayle heaped scorn upon those who had the audacity to support feminism and gay rights. RNC Chairman Rich Bond declared from the pulpit: “We are America, they (Democrats) are not.” You can imagine Reince Priebus, much like Melania was accused of doing, lifting those words for his speech.

The issue of race has also been a common thread in both conventions. 1992, after all, was the year of the LA riots. The beating of Rodney King has morphed into the shootings of Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, and Mike Brown; “No Justice, No Peace” is a forerunner of “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.” To be sure, the bete noir of the current GOP isn’t black (All Lives Matter, according to them), it’s more of a dark brown- specifically, immigrants from Mexico (build that wall!) and Muslims from, well, anywhere (ban ’em!).  Yes, I know, it’s illegal immigration and radical Muslims the party’s opposed to, but the tonality of such proclamations is undoubtedly one of rancor. Unless Trump softens his stance and pulls a Nixonian shift to the center, this xenophobia will likely doom his chances in the general election. Then again, thrashing Clinton mercilessly, over and over again, may just pick off enough independents and disaffected Dems in swing states to carry the day.

After losing his bid for reelection, Bush senior blamed the acrid atmosphere of the convention as one of the reasons for his defeat. Even if Trump loses in November, this convention will likely be spared any culpability; from its inception, his entire campaign has been replete with, if not based upon, inflammatory remarks. Failure will lie with him and him alone. Surely, they’ll be more fiery, rabble-rousing speeches to come over the next two days, culminating with Trump’s address Thursday. So kick back in your Doc Martens, pop open a Zima (sounds like one of Donald’s ex-wives, Zima Trump), and enjoy another round of hate-filled fireworks.