Republican National Convention reflects Trump strength

Significance

With primary elections now determining presidential candidates, party conventions, which originally played that role, have become carefully managed events designed to focus media attention on specific campaign themes. This year’s RNC has effectively stressed Trump’s dominance of the party, underscored by the choice of Senator JD Vance for vice president.

Impacts

• Vance may provide a small boost in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the three crucial battleground states neighbouring his native Ohio.
• If next week’s polling shows Trump lacking a typical post-convention bounce, it could mean that he is near the upper limit of his support.
• Reports this week that Elon Musk plans to give more than USD135mn to groups supporting Trump represents a major boost to his campaign.