TRUMP SPEECH STRENGTHENS BOND WITH SUPPORTERS. If you listen to some cable news analysts or read the political conversation on social media, the most notable thing about former President Donald Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday night was its length. And yes, at 93 minutes, it was too long. But for the Republicans listening to the speech in the hall and for millions watching on TV, here was the most notable thing about Trump’s speech: the fact that it happened at all. 

When they saw Trump take the stage in the Fiserv Forum, Republicans saw a leader who was almost assassinated by a gunman five days earlier. They shuddered to think what would have happened had Trump been killed by the sniper’s bullet at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday night. The party and the nation would have been in a perilous place. As it was, they were deeply disturbed by what had happened and enormously relieved to see Trump at the convention, delivering a speech of any length.