As the terror of Saturday’s assassination attempt subsided, the image of Trump raising his fist in the immediate aftermath became instantly iconic.
Nearly every Republican now sees him as the toughest S.O.B. ever to run for President as they pray for the innocent victims of the assault.
The vicious anti-Trump rhetoric that clearly contributed to this tragedy could force Democrats to shift away from their strategy of constantly calling him an “existential threat to democracy.”
But Saturday’s attack on Trump also culminated the former president’s most successful two-week period since Election Day 2016.
The June 27 CNN presidential debate was a political earthquake — a disaster for President Biden that shined an unforgiving light on his cognitive decline and revealed one of the most significant political coverups of our time.
On top of that, recent Supreme Court rulings have disrupted the Democrats’ lawfare campaign.
In national polls, Trump is leading — something no Republican presidential candidate has done at this stage of the campaign since 2000.
Trump leads in all six of the swing states most pivotal to determining the outcome and appears to be expanding the Republican map.
He has raced past Biden in cash on hand and has his party solidly behind him.
Meanwhile, Biden’s recent troubles have led to a drop-off in donations, and his party is in full panic mode four months from Election Day.
And if the GOP didn’t already have enough momentum, Trump now heads to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, where he will be nominated unanimously — since all his primary rivals have now instructed their delegates to support him.
He probably would rather reschedule the shindig for early August and give the Democrats more time to publicly struggle: No one on the red team wants to get in the way of the chaos and anxiety on the Democratic side, where Biden is seen as incapable and Kamala Harris as incompetent.
But the show must go on.
Trump brought this four-day coronation to Milwaukee for a reason: He won the White House in 2016 by pulling out a narrow victory in Wisconsin over Hillary Clinton, then lost the state narrowly to Biden in 2020; it’s a key state again this year.
He’s added some drama to the event by keeping us waiting for months for his vice-presidential choice, a pick (whether Sen. J.D. Vance, Gov. Doug Burgum, Sen. Marco Rubio or someone else) that will give another Republican presidential contender a head start on 2028.
Because of COVID, it has been eight years since the GOP’s last true national convention, making the week a significant element of the Republicans’ revised get-out-the-vote effort.
The convention is a crucial platform to get party activists fired up to do the hard work of ensuring maximum turnout.
Early voting begins shortly after Labor Day, and in today’s era of ballot harvesting, the time to ramp up is now.
The convention also provides invaluable free publicity and attracts a massive audience for the party’s leading figures, rising stars and policy plans.
That means a good showing in Milwaukee can buoy candidates up and down the ticket come November.
As planned, each night of the convention highlights a distinct element of the RNC platform — with deliberate appeals to disaffected Democrats.
Monday’s focus on the economy will bash the failures of Bidenomics and explain Trump’s plans to return the nation to dynamic growth and fiscal sanity.
Expect an olive branch to union members, who have faced significant economic challenges under Biden and Harris.
Tuesday will spotlight Trump’s strategy for combating crime and supporting law enforcement as part of the GOP’s outreach to urban voters.
Speakers will highlight Trump’s plan to revitalize American cities and address the fentanyl crisis, Soros-funded do-nothing prosecutors and human trafficking.
Wednesday’s foreign policy theme will center on securing the border and restoring America’s global standing.
Expect an open invitation to Jewish Democrats reconsidering their allegiances in the wake of their party’s response to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The final night will be devoted to nominating Trump and his new running mate, setting the tone for the stretch run.
A well-executed convention typically increases national polling by two to six percentage points.
But given the turmoil within the blue team, the current state of the race (Biden was polling in the 30s before the debate) and the issues that are driving voters, it wouldn’t be surprising if Trump once again exceeds expectations.
After all, he’s definitely on a roll.
Ford O’Connell is a political analyst and veteran Republican operative.