1. It’s Friday, July 22, 2016. (I’ve updated this from the initial 1:45 a.m. post, so it’s no longer as early.)

2. Songs that are played at the end of conventions usually portray a positive emotion. “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac. “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood (corrected). “City of Shining Lights” by U2.

The Trump Republicans played “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones. What the hell kind of message is that?

Maybe it’s the end of the refrain that applies: “You get what you need.” The implication being that Republican true believers might have wanted someone else, but they need the guy they got.

Maybe.

3. You know, long speeches aren’t necessarily bad.

Four years ago, Bill Clinton went on for an hour extolling the virtues of Barack Obama as his renomination convention in Charlotte. And people loved it – there were many who believed it was the highlight of the gathering and helped propel the President to re-election.

The success of Trump’s speech – which, according to C-SPAN, was the longest in at least 44 years – won’t be known until the early hours of Nov. 9. If he somehow wins the presidency, the speech will be regarded as a pivotal moment.

In my lifetime, the candidate who painted the more optimistic picture has won. JFK. Reagan. Clinton. Obama.

Trump tried to paint a picture of dysfunction and chaos. His view is there are threats all over the place, mostly from people who have snuck through our porous borders and infiltrated our communities. They’re ready to kill at any time.

It’s simplistic and stupid. There’s nothing Trump is saying that would prevent another Orlando shooting – he gave a shoutout to the NRA, whose advocacy of firearms is far more responsible for what happened that night than any failing international terrorist group.

And yet.

4. I can’t say with certainty that this speech won’t resonate with voters. With Trump, it’s as if the Howard Beale exhortation to shout “I’m mad as hell” from the window has come to life in the 21st century.

There are people ready to open their windows and scream – hell, they just watched an orange-faced guy yell how mad he is for more than an hour.

The acceptance speech is always the high point of a convention. So, maybe we should expect that this is Trump’s big moment, and it’s all down from here.

5. But now I feel the fate of 240 years of American freedom lies in the imperfect Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, a woman Republicans want to see put in prison or executed.

She needs to counterpunch big time next week in Philadelphia. And, unlike Trump, she’ll have some help. Her opponent in the primaries, Bernie Sanders, won’t be kneecapping her the way Ted Cruz did to Trump.

Elizabeth Warren will be there. Joe Biden will be there. And both of the Obamas will be there.

But Clinton has to carry most of the load. She needs to inspire and make people want to vote for her. She needs to reassure her core and welcome Republicans who don’t share the Trumpian gloom.

Her speech needs to be upbeat and full of ways to solve problems. And I still feel she needs to address the criticisms and accusations, the way she did when she answered 11 hours of questions from the wackos on the Benghazi committee.

She can do this. She has to do this. Our country and the world depend on it.

1. It’s Thursday, July 21, 2016.

2. It’s the final day of the Republican convention, this summer’s entry for the most bizarre reality TV show.

And it’s the one that a large percentage of the American electorate will watch. Because at some point, the Republican presidential nominee will give a speech accepting that nomination.

What Trump will show up at about 10 p.m. ET in Cleveland?

Will he try to befuddle his critics and make a speech that makes him seem like a President of the United States? One in which he seeks to inspire the American people. When he tries to bring his party together and appeal to the few voters who haven’t made up their mind.

Will he use a Teleprompter? Or will he dare to deliver the single most important speech of his life, and one of the most important speeches of the early 21st century, ad lib?

Will he set out specific proposals? Other than the wall.

Or is this the grand finale of “I Hate Hillary”? Does Trump bring the hatespeak to a crescendo, give all the delegates pitchforks and torches, and set them upon the land to bring justice to the heathen woman?

There are things Trump could say tonight that, believe it or not, could make us forget the Melania plagiarism flap, the Christie lynch mob rousing and even the Cruz perfidy of last night. It’s possible.

Some of those things would actually be smart politics – he could be restrained and say that this election is about ideas and not personalities. He could share a vision of peace in the world and justice at home. It would absolutely leave his opponents as bewildered as they’ve been since he started this unlikely journey a year ago.

Or he could spend the time being what he’s been all along. About himself. He could divide the nation further and add to the sense of crisis he seems to think will advance the Trump brand.

A lot is riding on what Trump says tonight. Whether you’re for him or, like me, think this is the saddest excuse of a human being ever to seek the nation’s highest office, it’s must-see TV.

3. A former boss of mine loved the phrase “too smart by a half” to describe someone who might have outsmarted him or herself.

Ted Cruz’s speech reminds of that phrase.

Cruz battled Trump to Indiana in May before seeing the handwriting on the wall. But after standing on a debate stage earlier in the process and promising to support the party’s nominee whoever he or she was, Cruz played coy for months about what he’d do at the convention.

So unlike John Kasich and Jeb Bush who just didn’t show up, Cruz decided he wanted the chance to speak in prime time and spread his regressive message. And he thought he would position himself for the aftermath of a Trump defeat by telling people to vote their conscience – instead of delivering the promised endorsement.

Cruz might think he’s put himself in a position to pick up the pieces. The party will see the error of its ways in 2020 and turn to him, its savior.

But I think the Trump supporters in the GOP and even some of the party faithful think what he really did was try to push Trump over a cliff and claim it was for their good.

If Trump wins, they’ll say he did despite Cruz’s attempt to sabotage. If Trump loses, he’ll be one of the reasons why. They might even start mumbling that he made a deal with President Obama when he traveled on Air Force One to the Dallas police memorial service.

Frankly, I think Ted Cruz positioned himself for a presidential run. In 2032. By that time, the current GOP will have forgotten what it sees as his deceit. He will have had a career as a TV pundit or Internet scowl, something akin to Ronald Reagan. And maybe, maybe, he’ll have been forgiven by then.

But he’d better not wait until 2036. By then, Malia Obama will be eligible to run.

1. It’s Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

2. I was prepared to give Melania Trump the benefit of the doubt.

People write speeches for people like Melania Trump. So how could it be that she was the one who lifted phrases from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech for use as she addressed the barbarians pushing her husband for president?

Not so fast.

The New York Times reports that two pro speechwriters gave her a draft for the speech a month ago. All that was left of it when she delivered it was one line. Apparently, the aspiring orator in Ms. Trump decided it wasn’t good enough.

The result is the fact that people are still talking about it a day and a-half later.

A quick Google search shows plagiarism is also considered a bad thing in Slovenia, Ms. Trump’s homeland. And if she’s not smart enough to know what she doesn’t know, the fault lies with her.

And with a campaign that let that happen. Which speaks volumes about the kind of president her husband would be.

3. The Republicans in Cleveland seem to believe you can prosecute and convict people without facts or a trial.

So despite the fact that the FBI director found no cause to bring charges against her – forget the fact that you need a judge or jury to find guilt – the attendees at the convention keep shouting “Lock her up”  whenever Hillary Clinton is mentioned.

But keep this in mind. While Clinton is no longer being investigated, the Republican presidential nominee is the subject of probes into whether Trump University was a fraud.

Not to mention the fact that he refuses to reveal his income tax records so that we can see exactly how fabulously successful a businessman and charitable a human being he is.

“Lock her up” might be tame to what Trump will hear next week in Philadelphia.

4. You know the guys. The ones who treat women with a wink and a leer.

Who somehow believe they are God’s gift to them. And that women should see their advances and suggestive comments as a compliment rather than an insult.

You keep hoping those guys don’t get far in the world. But sometimes they do. Very far.

So what you hope for, if you’re someone who believes in respect and propriety for all, is that those guys eventually get their comeuppance. That, in one fell swoop, they experience something akin to the humiliation that they’ve subjected people.

It’s never enough. It’s never complete justice. It doesn’t come close to righting the wrong.

But it’s a good start.

Let’s see what kind of day Fox News chief Roger Ailes has. I hope it stinks.

1. It’s Tuesday, July 19, 2016.

2. I wasn’t planning to see the remake of “Ghostbusters.”

That’s because I rarely go to the movies at all. For lots of reasons. The biggest is one I’ll expound on one day – the fact that people have no idea how to behave in a movie theater.

But I will make an exception for “Ghostbusters.” If only because of the weird animus it has generated among some men.

They object to the idea of remaking this comedy with women in the lead roles. And so they’ve gone online to various review sites, such as IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, to trash the film – even though they haven’t seen it.

That’s preposterous.

So I’m going to go, if only to cast my dollar votes for the idea that women shouldn’t be bullied when it comes to anything – movie remakes or matters much more serious.

I’ll try to keep an open mind. That, in itself, makes me morally superior to jackasses who think badmouthing a movie with women in the lead without even seeing it proves their testosterone level.

3. Social media is buzzing about Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican convention last night, unfortunately for her.

It seems the third Mrs. Trump gave a speech that lifted whole chunks from the one Michelle Obama gave to the 2008 Democratic convention.

Plagiarism is an ugly charge, and in this case it should fall more on the people writing the speech than the deliverer.

Unless the deliverer and her husband decide, as he often has, to double down on a faux pas. That’s what Trump wanted with the neo-Nazi inspired anti-Hillary tweet about three weeks ago – he was mad that his people had withdrawn the tweet instead of letting him defend it.

If they want to defend plagiarism, then they should prepare the reap the whirlwind.

4. If there is any.

Do you think Trump supporters care about plagiarism?

They spent last night wallowing in what they perceive to be the misery of Obama’s America.

When they talk about being soft on terrorism and attempt to exploit the tragedy in Benghazi, why does no one ever ask them the question?

Who was the president who got Osama bin Laden? Who gave the order to go after the bastard in Pakistan?

Why doesn’t somebody ask Giuliani that when he foams at the mouth about the horrors of Obama? He was certainly in line for the pictures when the president went to New York right after the capture to memorialize the victims of 9/11.

Political tradition says that the way to win is to present a positive picture. That’s not how the Republicans are playing it in 2016. That’s why the next two nights of the convention are inconsequential; it’s Trump’s speech and how he frames the election that matter.

I’m sure Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are watching, looking for how to approach the light amid the darkness of this week.

It’s Monday, July 18, 2016. 
The Republican National Convention starts tonight. 
This is also the week that we mark the 47th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the moon. 
What do the two events have in common?
Unfortunately, absolutely nothing. 
In fact, it’s more ironic than coincidental. 
Landing on the moon paid off a gigantic investment this country made. We – the American people, our businesses and our government – set a goal at the start of the 1960s. 
By the end of the decade, put a man on the moon and bring him home safely. 
It took hard work. It took imagination. It took science. It took heart-breaking failure. 
It also took a government willing to risk failure and the patience of a proud people. 
When it was done, we – the United States of America – had accomplished something the human race had only imagined for however long we’ve existed. Despite the political divisions in our land – and, man, they were awful ones – the nation came together to celebrate something only we could do. 
Contrast that with Cleveland, July 2016. 
There is nothing about Trumpism that has anything to do with vision. With what we as a nation are going to accomplish. What we, working together, are going to do to improve the human race. 
Instead, it’s about going back to some perceived moment of peak greatness. As if there can’t be anything greater. As if there weren’t things in those times that were imperfect. 
Trumpism is about reverting. Of shutting out and shutting down. 
And even within those limits, there is only one person whose actions matter. One person who can single-handedly turn back the clock. 
His only vision is his name in big bold numbers on the top or side of a building.
He and his supporters bluster and bark. They beat their chests. They talk trash. 
And, yet, when it comes to the future, there’s only one word you can use to describe them:
Scared. 
They are afraid of a future in which America welcomes all who can advance the human race. They are afraid of a future in which technological change whizzes around us, daring us to embrace and tame it.
Can we make the planet sustainable? Can we improve the quality of our lives? Can we increase the length of our lives? Can we figure out a better way to get places?Can we explore planets and solar systems and oceans and even the core of the earth itself?
It takes vision and courage to do that.
It also takes an American government that is not scared of being the government of the United States. 
Yes, many of this nation’s greatest achievements resulted from the daring of private industry. The iPhone I’m writing this on proves that. 
But the atmosphere for creation and innovation is stronger when everyone is a partner. 
That, by definition, includes the federal government.  
And it has been that way through our history. 
Not just the moon landing, spurred by a Democrat. 
But the interstate highway system and Panama Canal, a Republican idea. Social Security and Medicare, Democratic ideas.
Greatness isn’t about dwelling on or in the past. Greatness is about shaping what lies ahead to our dreams and imaginations. 
The 47th anniversary of one small step for man on the moon should not about nostalgia for the moon landing. It should be about one giant leap toward where we go next. 
The only vision you’ll get in Cleveland is unbridled fear. From a fool. 

It’s July 15, 2016, and time again for 20 Questions Friday. I ask the questions. I leave the answers to your intelligence and imagination.

1. Does law enforcement around the world make a concerted effort to capture miscreants such as the Nice truck driver alive?

2. How many of these sickening attacks have been foiled by good police work and the help of people in the community?

3. Does the fact that France seem to have a disproportionate number of these terrorist attacks indicate there’s something fundamental in society – perhaps in the treatment of non-Gallic people – that needs mending?

4. Did you ever drive to an intersection near Times Square at curtain time and realize that you unwittingly have a weapon of mass destruction in your hands?

5. Is Newt Gingrich the leading contender for ISIS Recruiter of the Month?

6. Trump got “emotional” after the Nice attack and delayed his VP announcement. Do you think that might be an occupational handicap for a President of the United States?

7. Is some reporter going to ask Mike Pence if he still believes smoking doesn’t kill people?

8. Doesn’t Indiana seem like a better state now that it’s official Mike Pence won’t be its governor starting in January?

9. How did you gauge the degree of sincerity in Bernie Sanders’ endorsement of Hillary Clinton?

10. Do you think this presidential campaign will ever get around to discussing the idea that it’s ridiculous not to launch a massive infrastructure rebuild when interest rates are this low?

11. Is the idea that historically low interest rates make this a great time to launch a job-creating infrastructure program over the heads of American people who might actually cast a vote for Trump?

12. Is some sympathy to the Black Lives Matter movement hurting Hillary Clinton in the polls?

13. Did Dallas’ police conduct in the wake of the horrific massacre of its officers go a long way to erase the negative reputation the city got after President Kennedy’s assassination?

14. Does Trump ever do campaign appearances that don’t involve him standing at a podium with his name on it?

15. Will Trump signs add the name Pence to them? Or is there not enough room?

16. Do you think Trump supporters care who his running mate is?

17. I’m a big Mets fan, but haven’t the four days off for the All-Star break been a relief?

18. Pokémon GO players: Is it me, or does this game make you nervous about what you can’t see when you’re walking around outside?

19. I mean, will I ever go to my park again and not worry there’s a wild Pidgey nearby?

20.OK, even though it’ll be the week that Trump gets the Republican nomination, can this be a better week than the last two?

(This has been revised as a result of the terrorist attack in Nice and Trump’s decision to delay his running mate announcement.)

1. It’s still Thursday, July 14, 2016.

2. So the indications are that Trump is going to pick Mike Pence, the damn fool governor of Indiana, as his running mate. It’s not a slam dunk certainty until the Orange One lumbers onto a stage and presents him, which was supposed to happen tomorrow, but has been delayed due to the horrific terrorist attack in Nice.

But let’s say it’s Pence.

A Pence pick is a Tea Partiers’ No. 2 dream, after putting Barack Obama on a plane back to his native Kenya. There’s no problem that can’t be solved by taking away a tax that rich people pay.

He’s also not keen on people who love people of the same sex. It was Pence who signed the so-called “Religious Freedom” act into effect that allowed Indiana businesses to deny services to homosexuals due to religious objections.

The nationwide outcry was so strong that it was also Pence, after posturing about how he stood behind the law, who backed down and pushed a measure that moderated the stance. That was after businesses said they were pulling out of the state and people around the nation gave Pence their two cents.

With that, he’s perfect for a GOP platform that not only wants to roll back the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, but even supports the idea of gay conversion therapy, treating sexual preference as some kind of affliction.

And it was Pence who shepherded a draconian anti-abortion law that had women in the state so riled that they formed Periods for Pence, a campaign to tell him how each of their menstrual cycles was progressing because he seemed so concerned about them. The law was later thrown out in court.

One more thing: Pence once denied that smoking kills people. Really. So in addition to the usual Republican climate change denial, you can add nicotine denial. (Not to mention grammar denial if you read this piece through.) 

Yes, Pence will consolidate the GOP base. He’ll keep the Neanderthal conservatives happy. Big smile on Paul Ryan’s face. I’d say big smile on Ted Cruz’s face, but there’s still nothing for him to smile about.

3. So the question here is does Hillary Clinton, who has taken a beating in recent polls to fall into a draw with Trump, respond to a Pence VP pick and, if so, how?

The first part: If you think this election is a lock, and I don’t know if the Clinton folks do, then the important thing to consider is the qualification to serve as president. Who could do the job if something happens to Clinton?

But if they think this is going to be a tough fight, then the first question needs to be who can eviscerate Pence in a debate?

Is it someone with sharp elbows? Or someone who’s rational and not easily flustered?

As I write this, she’s appearing with Sen. Tim Kaine in Virginia. Kaine is an obviously smart guy. But he’s not Mr. Excitement. Is being good with facts enough to stifle Pence in a debate.

If she goes with the puncher, then Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown are her best bets. They are not going to be afraid to rough it up.

Warren raises another question. Is Trump’s Pence pick toxic with women? Trump was trailing with them anyway. Does Pence’s hardcore stances drive enough women away from Trump that it makes no sense to pick another woman for the ticket – unless, of course, we go back to question one and Clinton believes a specific woman is the best one for the job.

It’s an interesting dilemma. It will play out over the next week; my guess is Clinton names her pick a week from tomorrow to take away whatever bounce Trump gets from Cleveland.

1. It’s Thursday, July 14, 2016.

2. It’s Bastille Day, the 227th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille by the people of Paris. So to anyone reading this who’s French, Joyeux Quatorze Juillet! (and congratulations on your mastery of English)

3. If you’re a white evangelical, there’s a 4-in-5 chance that the man you support for president:

— has been married three times

— curses a lot in public

— made his mark as an operator of casinos

— was the person talked about in the classic New York Post headline “BEST SEX I’VE EVER HAD” by a woman who wasn’t his wife

— isn’t especially well versed on the Bible

Trump’s showing among evangelicals in this Pew Research Survey is stronger than that of Mitt Romney, a man whose religious faith was unquestioned but who happened to be a Mormon, received four years ago.

It makes you wonder.

Now I don’t pretend to understand evangelicals. I’m so lapsed a Catholic that I don’t even think about it much anymore. And evangelicals are further on that side of the fence.

But it was my understanding that evangelicals are big on a moral, traditional society. That would entail modesty in one’s lifestyle and personal habits. And I won’t get started about doing good works for those in need.

4. How does Trump even make the cut with these people?

Well, for one thing, more of them are voting AGAINST Hillary Clinton than they are voting FOR Trump, by a 3-to-2 margin. In fact, only 6% of white evangelicals affirm their support for Clinton. That might not even be one person in every pew.

What is it about Hillary Clinton that makes evangelicals so upset that they’d forsake everything they say they’re for to vote for Trump?

5. There’s one obvious difference.

But being a woman can’t be the whole thing.  Somehow, I suspect Sarah Palin, a woman singularly unqualified to do anything useful except quit stuff, would do well with evangelicals.

Abortion? Clinton has been pretty steadfast about her position on this. For as long as she’s been in the public eye, she’s supported a woman’s right to choose.

Perhaps evangelicals are hoping for the Trump who told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that women who have abortions should be punished somehow, and not the guy who’s equivocated on the issue.

My guess is that evangelicals don’t have the candidate they want. There’s no Ted Cruz or Scott Walker. So they’re sticking with this guy because…

Well, because, he’s white (sort of, probably underneath all the orange makeup) and is willing to say what it takes to get their vote.

If you don’t think that’s a factor with these people, consider this: their idea of a villain in American politics is a guy who quotes Scripture and is devoted to his family. His crime is being the first black president.

And don’t tell me this has to do with honesty, especially regarding Clinton’s e-mail problems, which at least she admits are a mistake.

If the Trump University scam isn’t a sin against humanity, I’m not sure what is. And how does Trump get away becoming the first presidential candidate since Richard Nixon not to reveal his tax returns?

6. It would be wrong to paint white evangelicals with a broad brush.

I know some who use their time and money to help the poor, spend precious vacation time tend to sick people and attempt understanding with people who are not like them. They following in the footsteps of their lord and savior. I have all the respect in the world with those folks, even if we disagree on things.

7. But the solid white evangelical support for Trump is sordid.

It’s a reminder of eight years ago, when people who say they believe in abstinence – and not birth control – is the only way for young women to avoid pregnancy roared when Sarah Palin’s with-child daughter and her coincidental boyfriend showed up at the Republican convention.

I don’t think their political positions have anything to do with religion. I think they have to do with being white, and forgetting the part of Christianity about being your brother’s keeper.

They’re voting for Trump because he appeals to their fears. Of Latinos. Of Muslims. Of African-Americans. Of women like Hillary Clinton who think for themselves. Of homosexuals. Of Jewish people. Of kids going off on their own and discovering the wonders of the world. Of some mysterious force that wants to take away what they have and force them to eat kale and quinoa instead of pork and corn.

Their ministers have either been ineffective or casual with those parts of the gospel that deal with others in need. Or that deal with kindness.

They all claim to abide by God’s word. They forget this part:

Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

1. It’s Wednesday, July 13, 2016.

2. Is it just me being a geezer, or are there lots of things about Pokemon GO that aren’t immediately clear?

For example, what does it mean when green leaves come up from the ground? Does that mean there’s a land Pokemon around? Is it a sign that somebody should prune the trees on that spot?

My son, who has been into this Pokemon thing for most of his 21-3/4 years, won’t be back in the U.S. for another week. I’m guessing he’ll be able to answer a lot of my questions.

But if he weren’t coming home, I’d just have an iPhone full of these digital creatures that I have no idea what to do with.

I’m not sure when peak Pokemon GO day is. It could be anytime this week. Eventually, there will be a cooling of the passion and people will get back to normal. My money is on this being nostalgia by Thanksgiving.

3. The Republican Party is betting against the tide.

The acceptance of same-sex marriage and the breakdown of barriers to those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender has happened at breakneck speed. Not a decade ago, there were people who could have imagined the changes that have taken place.

But they have. And it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Isn’t the idea for the maximum number of people to be happy?

And yet, the Republicans don’t seem to be happy at all.

Their platform advocates the reversal of the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decisions. And, unbelievably, it favors the idea of gay conversion therapy – the nonsensical concept of attempting to brainwash a person who prefers someone of the same sex into heterosexuality.

First, so much for the party of personal liberty. Republicans only seem to be for that when it’s their choice.

Second, when the Republican Party foists a presidential candidate who doesn’t seem to want Latino, African-American or Muslim votes, it looks to shun LGBT and young voters as well.

Why young voters?

Because young people have led the same-sex equality fight in a way that’s as admirable as any generation’s stance ever. They have decided that discrimination against their friends who are in a same-sex relationship seems stupid. And when something’s stupid, you get rid of it.

4. And it would underline this Republican stance against popular change if Trump picks Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.

It was Pence who, a year ago, signed into law Indiana’s heinous “religious liberty” legislation that allowed businesses to deny services to people in same-sex relationships. That led to a boycott of Indiana that forced Pence to back down and endorse a modification of the law.

Pence is a fool. But he represents what the Republican Party has come to stand for – standing in the way of, rather than in support of, personal liberty. On same-sex issues, on a woman’s right to choose, on health care.

If I were running the national Democratic campaign, I would take planks of the Republican platform and place them verbatim on signs and billboards where my voters live. And I would stand there with voter registration cards saying “The Democratic Party. All are welcome.”

1. It’s Tuesday, July 12, 2016.

2. So I was going to like Bernie Sanders’ endorsement speech for Hillary Clinton anyway. But here’s why I was really psyched afterward, and then one less serious observation.

— FEELING THE BERN: Sanders could have stood there and given a tepid 5-minute endorsement. It would have recognized the reality of the delegate count and said people needed to stand together to make sure Trump doesn’t become President.

He didn’t do that.

Instead, he framed this the way Hillary Clinton must in order to win the mandate she needs.

Sanders said this election is not about him or Trump or Clinton. It’s about how the American people will deal with the problems they face – both now and in the future.

And that’s how it’s got to be. Yes, Trump is a demon from which millions of Americans will want to flee. But the more Hillary Clinton can get people to affirmatively vote for her – as opposed to holding their nose and voting for her – the easier it will be to get the 325-350 electoral vote triumph that will shush the Trumpites once and for all.

— SANDERS TALKED ABOUT ISSUES: His issues. The things about which he brought the passion to the campaign such as college affordability, campaign finance reform and income inequality.

The Clinton-? campaign – no, we still don’t know her running mate – will have enough Trump bashers to remind folks why the next president can’t possibly be him. Elizabeth Warren, whether or not she’s No. 2 on the ticket, will fill that role well. President Obama has a knack.

Sanders can badmouth Trump with the best of them. But his best role in this campaign will be to bring fire to the issues that separate Democrats from Trump and the Republicans.

This is something Democrats don’t do well. Since 1980, when Reagan beat Carter, people have generally opposed a lot of the things that Republicans stand for, particularly on social issues.

Now, people seem to at least want to listen to Sanders. He expresses their rage about many things.

He sees the opportunity. And instead of sulking off, he’s going to take it.

No, he won’t be President. But he can shape the country for the next few years and keep President Clinton’s feet to the fire. It’s a win.

— CAN’T TOUCH THIS: Two weeks from Thursday, in Philadelphia, Bernie Sanders is going to be standing on the podium with Hillary Clinton and other Democratic leaders. Perhaps the only significant party leader missing will be President Obama; he’ll have given his farewell to the Democrats a few nights before and won’t want to overshadow the nominees.

The party is going to display its unity, and it’s going to look and feel real.

What is going to happen a week from Thursday at the Republican convention in Cleveland? Will Trump stand next to Cruz? Rubio? Kasich? We’re pretty sure Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney won’t even show up.

Christie will be there, as VP nominee or otherwise. “Yessir, Mr. Trump.” Carson will be there if he’s still awake at that hour.

The point is the Democrats are going at this at full strength. Sanders made that abundantly clear today. The Republicans, not so much.

—TIP FOR HILLARY: Warning: This is my less serious observation.

But Hillary, please, please, stop nodding your head so much when someone who supports you is speaking.

She did that today with Sanders. She did that with President Obama last week. She’s standing right next to him looking like a bobblehead doll, agreeing with everything the guys are saying.

It wasn’t as bad today – maybe someone warned her about this or read David Axelrod’s tweet pointing this out, and it kicked in later in Sanders’ remarks.

But she’s gotta stop it. It’s just a distraction.

That’s all.

3. Before last night’s All-Star Home Run Derby, I was asked what one player I would take to start a team. I didn’t say Bryce Harper or Mike Trout. I said Giancarlo Stanton.

He’s this big young man with decent speed, an above-average glove and the kind of power they make movies about.

So, even though he plays in the same division and wreaks havoc on my Mets, I’m happy for his Bunyanesque triumph in the contest. Perhaps because he plays in Miami, he’s not often in the conversation for the game’s best player. But last night, millions of people noticed.