What to watch for at the 2024 Republican National Convention

MILWAUKEE — Weeks of Democratic pressure on President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race had already turned the 2024 campaign on its head right as Republicans were readying to gather this week and crown former President Donald Trump as their nominee.

Then a would-be assassin grazed Trump’s ear with a bullet at a Pennsylvania rally.

Both developments have shaken up a race that had remained stagnant — but close — for months, and they will be top of mind for attendees going into this week’s Republican National Convention.

The conversation surrounding the race has been flipped — and flipped again — after months when the discussion was centered on the possibility Trump could return to office following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and amid the handful of ongoing prosecutions he faces.

But a more disciplined campaign, some beneficial court rulings — aside from his guilty verdict in a New York City courtroom in May — and Biden’s sparking an intraparty firestorm after a disastrous debate performance last month have set Trump up in a position he’s unfamiliar with in his near-decade in running for the presidency: as the odds-on favorite to win.

And that dynamic, above all else, should lead to some intriguing storylines to watch at his convention this week.

Here are some to keep an eye on:

How the attempted assassination changes the convention

A major theme will be how the weekend’s violence transforms the message throughout convention week.

Will speakers continue to hammer away at the planned themes? Will they seek to restrain rhetoric in the name of pushing for unity in the aftermath of the attack on Trump — which killed one rallygoer and wounded others? Or will Republicans seek to lay blame for Saturday’s shooting