This week’s Republican National Convention has been in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a swing state the Republicans need to win for their presidential candidate to make it to the White House.
Wisconsin may have been a swing state this time last week but, as elsewhere across the country, the events in Pennsylvania last weekend are more than likely to have handed it to the Republicans.
The convention couldn’t have come at a better time for the resurgent Republican Party.
The assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump not yet even a week ago has, predictably, galvanised their belief in him to lead them to victory.
Earlier this week, the Republicans formally endorsed Mr Trump to run for president. Absolutely no surprise there.
Mr Trump then selected junior Ohio senator J D Vance as his vice-presidential running mate.
There had been a lot of debate about who he might chose. Mr Vance’s nomination certainly came as a shock to many, particularly in light of his earlier anti-Trump remarks that he was a "moral disaster" and possibly the US’ version of Hitler.
Mr Vance has also previously taken an extremely hard line on abortion, which he now appears to be back-pedalling on.
But why should it come as such a surprise that someone would change their views of the likely next president, and on a key issue, to suit their own rise to power?
After all, this is the Republicans under Mr Trump, a party full of people who clearly have an uncomfortable relationship with the concepts of truth and logic, with the idea of a moral compass, and with what count as facts.
The level of stomach-churning sycophancy is at epic levels. How can anybody believe anything anyone says when former Trump-haters are now lining up to fawn all over him?
It’s like nothing means anything real. The truth hurts and it’s nicer, and more convenient, to believe in a fantasy world.
With a tiny change in wind direction at the Butler rally last weekend, the Republicans would have been looking for a different presidential candidate. Violence would be breaking out across the country.
The bitter pill to swallow is that it is preferable for the US and the world to have Mr Trump back in the White House rather than cope with civil war on behalf of a martyred contender.
For phlegmatic Kiwis, the kitschy American political conventions appear quite strange, even bordering on the kind of jingoistic fervour one might expect to see in a North Korean or Soviet-style military parade.
Put simply, it’s a Hollywood world of colourful balloons, platitudes, glitter, political humbug and exclamation marks.
Once Mr Trump went on stage yesterday afternoon, the arena took on the appearance of some kind of fundamental Christian revivalist meeting.
It quickly became clear the attack on his life has not changed him for the better, or turned him away from the intolerant and dishonest rhetoric which we have come to associate him and his cronies with.
There were tears, cheers, chanting and mass hysteria as he talked about surviving the shooting, thanks be to God, and several times deliberately evoked religious imagery.
Then he descended into his usual rantings about President Joe Biden and the Democrats, illegal immigrants, the need for more fossil fuels and to "drill, baby, drill", and to ignore environmental "scams".
Not a word about gun control, ironically. Another non-surprise.
Whether we like it or not, what happens in the US affects the world.
We don’t expect other nations to be interested in the outcome of our elections, but it would be nice to know that voting Americans realise just how crucial their choice is for all of us across the globe.
For us, the dubious reasoning abilities of many million Americans are a scary thing.
With President Biden teetering on the brink of pulling out of the race, it seems unlikely that anyone is going to be able to stop Mr Trump from grabbing the top job in four months’ time.
