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Guest Essay

By New York Times Opinion

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Welcome to Opinion’s commentary for Night 2 of the Republican National Convention. In this special feature, Times Opinion writers rate the evening on a scale of 0 to 10: 0 means the night was a disaster for Donald Trump; 10 means it could lead to a big polling bump. Here’s what our columnists and contributors thought of the event, which included speeches from Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Elise Stefanik.

Kristen Soltis Anderson, contributing Opinion writer I’d be remiss not to mention Gov. Jim Justice’s bulldog, Babydog, but what really stood out to me were Lara Trump’s eloquent remarks. She originally prepared a very different speech. But she rewrote it, and what she delivered made a positive, personal case for Donald Trump. “You don’t have to imagine what it would be like; all you have to do is remember what it was like” is a memorable line that aligns with polling showing that voters feel they were better off during the Trump presidency than they are now.

David Brooks, Times columnist Nikki Haley’s speech. She’s just a formidable political talent. She handled her disagreements with Trump with a nice lightness of spirit. I suspect her political career is far from over.

Jane Coaston, contributing Opinion writer Babydog, who seemed rested and ready for her 2028 run.

Michelle Cottle, political writer for Opinion I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Vivek Ramaswamy was en fuego. His barn burner of a speech included the requisite partisan red meat, but the way he talked about the shrinking American dream could resonate well beyond the Republican base. Somehow, his typically insufferable manner worked well in the big convention setting. Go figure.

David French, Times columnist Lara Trump did more to humanize Donald Trump and the MAGA movement than any other speaker. She communicated to the country not just how MAGA sees Trump but........

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