The Good Mood in Milwaukee

Hello from Milwaukee, where there is So. Much. News. Read on for the top developments and a look at how the sobriety of the weekend has given way to jubilation at the Republican National Convention. Plus, the calculus behind Trump’s pick for veep.

As the Republican National Convention opened in the extraordinary shadow of the attempted assassination of the nominee, aides with Trump’s campaign insisted that the former president’s near-death “changes nothing” about their plans or their focus here.

Tell that to the Republican delegates and party stalwarts milling around in Milwaukee.

“Talk about strength, right?” said Mark Morgan, a former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the Trump administration, raising his arms as he spoke at a policy forum staged by the Heritage Foundation just outside the convention.

“After President Trump was shot in the head, what does he do? Fist bump and say ‘Fight, fight, fight,” Morgan said as the crowd cheered.

The bombast around the shooting — which killed one rallygoer and left two people in critical condition — may not be coming from the main stage tonight as the G.O.P. seeks to show some restraint.

But in party breakfasts, bars and the baking sidewalks of Milwaukee, Republicans said they believe the episode would bring them a political boost. And they view it as just one more example of the way everything — everything — seems to be going their way.