GOP divided heading into the convention in Cleveland
CLEVELAND -- Unity may have been the goal in putting Mike Pence on the ticket, but it won't be a unified Republican party that convenes in Cleveland to celebrate Donald Trump.
"If you look at one of the big reasons that I chose Mike, and one of the reasons is party unity, I have to be honest," Trump said on Saturday.
The bitter primary fight, Trump's inflammatory rhetoric and concerns he could hurt Republicans down the ballot have led many GOP lawmakers and luminaries to stay home, like nearly every Republican senator in a tight reelection race.
One exception, Ohio senator Rob Portman, but he won't be speaking.
The host state's other top elected official, Gov. John Kasich will be here, without stepping foot in the convention arena. Instead he'll be attending events across the city, many just blocks away.
"They are much, much better off to take this week in their own states, for their own elections," said former RNC chairman Haley Barbour.
On "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Barbour excused missing senators, but not Kasich.
"Well, you know, it would be great if John Kasich were here and if he would enthusiastically support the nominee," she said.
Enthusiasm may be a tall order. Just two blocks from the Quicken Loans arena, one vendor is selling Trump t-shirts alongside books written by Republican anti-Trump activists.
The latest CBS News battleground poll in Ohio shows that just 37 percent of Trump voters are backing him because they like him. Instead, 53 percent are voting for Trump to oppose Hillary Clinton.
Last week, officials from the RNC and the Trump campaign spent days in marathon meetings, successfully killing efforts to keep Trump from getting the nomination on the convention floor.
"I don't know every thing that is going to come down, but it is not going to be unified," said Kendall Unruh.
Unruh, one of the leaders of the "Stop Trump" movement said they'll still make their voices are heard.
"What has been simmering out there has now become this raging wildfire that actually is now going to be taken to the floor," she said.
The question is whether Trump can leave this convention with at least an energized Republican base. If he can't, it will be much more difficult for him to mobilize grassroots voters and really compete against Clinton.