If you liked “Hamlet” without the prince, you may well have loved the convention in Cleveland, which was short of suspense, eloquence, elegance and, oddly enough, the Republican Party, which seemed to be nowhere in sight.

The hall itself seemed to be missing a number of people, as the cameras showed empty seats everywhere. And outside the hall, it seemed short of takers, as the acceptance speech of nominee Trump drew 31.5 million viewers. That’s just 7 million more than the first Republican debate, which was held a year earlier, and a great many fewer than the 38.9 million drawn eight years before by John McCain, whom Trump called a loser, and who — as he had the bad luck to get himself captured — had not been a hero at all.