Everywhere you look in Cleveland this week, there are messages and agendas.

The Republican National Convention not only draws thousands of delegates and alternates but people from all over the United States, eager to share their message.

  • People converge on RNC to share their message
  • Signs, vendors, merchandise abound
  • 'That’s just part of what the first amendment is about'

On a street corner by Cleveland's historic Public Square, Hanif Phelps stood for hours holding a sign that read, "U Matter 2 Me."

“They were going to look at me one way or another," he said.“I felt if I put 'Black Lives Matter' on here, Caucasian folks would’ve looked away. No matter what they say, we’ve mattered, you matter.”

Nearby, East 4th Street is a hodgepodge of vendors, hawking their wares: oversized Trump buttons, bobbleheads and T-shirts.

Loren Spivack came from Massachusetts to sell his series of book parodies on Dr. Seuss classics to fellow conservatives.

“The message in my books is we need to get back to a free society with limited government," he said.

Ann Wright, who came from Hawaii, said, “We have all sorts of colorful signs that we use to bring the issues to people."

As she clutched a "Bust up war" sign, she said, "“If you’re concerned about the destiny of the country, then you have to be able to challenge policies that various candidates are espousing.”

Justin Buchler, an associate political science professor at Case Western Reserve University, says this clash of messages is nothing new, on display at every convention.

“That’s just part of what the first amendment is about," he said.

Yet, there is something out of the norm this election cycle: the GOP’s hope that projecting unity in speakers impacts the outcome.

“There have been a lot of attempts to use the convention to try to unify the Republican party, so we’ll see if that works," Buchler said.

As for Christine Guerrero, she flew from Texas to advocate for third party candidate Gary Johnson but said competing messages are what it’s all about.

“This is what makes America great. People being out, advocating for a cause, that’s what we all should be doing," she said.