MILWAUKEE — As President Trump prepares to deliver his triumphant acceptance speech before a Republican Party remade in his image, attention is now shifting to Delaware, where his prospective opponent, President Biden, after hearing from party elders that he’s too old for a second term, is now said to be hold up with a case of covid. 

This event here in Milwaukee is seen by convention-goers as a success for the former president. He chose a running mate who excites his base and who could, delegates reckon, help the Republicans breach for a second time the once-“blue wall” of midwestern states that are pivotal to retaking the White House. 

Trump has been cheered thunderously by delegates in the hall who say they are praying for him in the wake of the attempt on his life. Though there are policy differences lurking between the old guard and  the new GOP, embraced by the vice presidential nominee, there has been no open dissent from elected officials or party apparatchiks — a far cry from the divisions of the 2016 gathering and the non-existent 2020 convention. 

Mr. Biden, on the other hand, has been suffering day after day humiliating leaks in the press about how fellow Democrats — including Speaker Pelosi, Senator Schumer, and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries — are seeking his ouster as the party standard-bearer. Mr. Schumer, according to ABC News, met with the president at Rehoboth, Delaware on Saturday to ask him to stand aside, though all attention quickly shifted to the assassination attempt on Trump later that day. 

Trump arrived in Wisconsin literally bloodied, with a bandage still on his right ear from the incident that nearly claimed his life. Over the course of four days, he has been warmly embraced by even his most ardent critics, including the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who gave her “strong endorsement” to Trump on Tuesday night. Governor DeSantis, too, came to Milwaukee to sing the praises of the former president. 

Mr. Biden, holed up in Delaware with a covid infection, may yet face a full revolt from his party in the coming hours and days. Nearly two dozen congressional Democrats have already called for him to step aside, and with the Republican convention wrapping up Thursday night, the focus will shift back to the incumbent, whose own nomination looks increasingly in doubt.

A top Biden fundraiser, the Hollywood potentate Jeffrey Katzenberg, has, according to Semafor, told him that donations are drying up. Mrs. Pelosi’s chief ally in the House, Congressman Adam Schiff, called on the president to leave the race — which many took as a not-so-subtle jab sent by the speaker emerita herself. Even President Obama has told Democrats that Mr. Biden must reevaluate the state of the race, and consider retirement, according to the Washington Post. 

If the president does decide to step down as the Democratic nominee, it is unclear what path party leaders will take. Some have said Vice President Harris should simply be anointed the successor, given her role as Mr. Biden’s chosen heir. Others wish for a mini primary that allows other candidates to hop into the race between now and the end of the Democratic convention on August 22. 

While Democrats fretting, plotting, and leaking to the press about the candidate chosen in their primaries, Republicans were taking their seats on the floor of the Fiserv Forum here in Milwaukee. The week has been filled with dancing, emphatic sign-waving, and cheers and chants of support for Trump, and Republicans up and down the ballot. 

On Wednesday, several members of the House, including Congressman Brian Mast, Congressman Michael Waltz, and Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna — three veterans of the American armed forces — came to the stage to talk about Trump’s leadership.

“I’ve got to start with a salute to every warrior standing guard around the globe — on an aircraft carrier, in a foxhole, on a base somewhere, in this audience, or just watching at home. We love you veterans,” Mr. Mast, who lost both legs and a finger during a tour in Afghanistan, said on stage, eliciting thunderous cheers from those in the convention hall. 

After the addresses by those veterans, some of the families of those 13 service members killed at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan in 2021 were brought on stage to detail their heartache after their children were killed. The solemn moment focused on the comfort Trump had brought them after the attack. Mothers and fathers praised Trump’s ability to bring smiles to their faces for the first time since their children were killed. Delegates were brought to tears hearing those stories. 

Shortly after that celebration of the service members’ lives and the sacrifices their families have made, Senator Vance, a 39-year-old first-term lawmaker, received broadly positive reviews of his speech on Wednesday night, telling the story of the “forgotten” parts of America where he grew up.

Mr. Vance declared the Republican Party was the party of “the autoworker in Michigan”, “the factory worker in Wisconsin”, “the energy worker in Pennsylvania and Ohio”, and “single moms like mine.” Some delegates were seen crying as he talked about his family’s struggles in southern Ohio. 

On every day of the convention so far, delegates have been given a that gets nearly all of them on their feet: a video montage of the former president dancing at rallies across the country, accompanied by the Village People’s “YMCA.”

It is unclear what song the former president will walk out to on Thursday night, but even if no music were played at all, Republican convention goers’ mood, at this point, could not be dampened after four straight days of unity and optimism as their political opponents seemingly march toward a self-imposed defeat.