“I wasn’t supposed to be here,” said 2024 Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump.

But the pumped-up crowd in Milwaukee at the 2024 Republican National Convention agreed with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders that “God spared Donald Trump from an assassin because He wasn’t finished with him yet.”

The consensus at the convention was God protected Trump and he “took a bullet for us,” and that Trump is the designated fighter this country desperately needs to save the American Dream.

That Trump had almost died at the hands of a deranged 20-year-old shooter just days before the GOP national meeting made this an entirely transformed political conclave.

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Trump supporters came to resurrect Trump and his political career in one of the best staged and most unified U.S. national party conventions in memory. Even a super narcissist emperor couldn’t have asked for a more lavish festival of adoring praise and hagiography.

Here are a few stories coming out of this convention:

Trump’s selection of U.S. Senator J.D. Vance as the Republican candidate for vice president was well received by Trump’s populist, nationalist and semi-isolationist fanbase. Vance, a photogenic Ohioan, has a youthful winning smile, the self-confidence of a Yale Law School graduate, the aura of a former U.S. Marine, and a charming spouse.

His selection immediately highlighted the President Joe Biden age problem and it made the Trump-Vance ticket look young and vigorous.

Vance could make a difference in helping Trump to win the crucial swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The Vance pick made everyone quickly forget about old Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president during his first term.

It is notable Vance is a hardliner on outlawing abortion and led efforts in the U.S. Senate to block more military aid for Ukraine in its struggle against Russia.

Vance also reportedly told reporters he would have heeded the wishes of then-President Trump to refuse certification of the Electoral College result in January of 2021 that elected Joe Biden president. This was an unconstitutional act that former Vice President Pence refused to do.

Vance cleverly avoided all these controversies in his highly personal and effective acceptance speech. Meanwhile, his well-written and engaging memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which had been a best seller a few years ago shot up to the No. 1 best seller again this weekend.

One of the highlights of this Trump-centered convention was the handful of humanizing talks by his family. His granddaughter and sometimes golfing pal hit a home run by talking about their many golfing outings and his phone calls to her when she was at school.

This made most of us, at least temporarily, forget about Trump’s encounter with pornography movie star Stormy Daniels and similar Trump “friendships.”

Convention managers wasted no time introducing convention speakers and featured everyday Americans with heartbreaking stories. There were also impressive endorsements from Trump’s past rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination for president. And we heard from notable figures such as Tucker Carlson, Hulk Hogan, Franklin Graham and Dr. Ben Carson.

Convention managers dispensed with the old-fashioned ritual of calling the rollcall of states. They got rid of any debates about the party platform. Everything was done by acclamation. Everything was carefully staged.

This convention, as most previous conventions have, showcased younger future stars in the Republican Party. These included Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Eric Trump, Marco Rubio, Doug Burgum, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and others.

Notably absent were the more traditional and moderate Republicans of the recent past. Mitt Romney, former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney were nowhere to be seen. And there were no representatives from the John McCain, Ronald Reagan, or Dwight Eisenhower families.

Absent too were most members of former President Trump’s cabinet and White House staff from his first term. Thus, there was no former Chief-of-Staff John Kelly, former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, former Attorney General Bill Barr, or former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

This was an all-Trump show about a reoriented new Republican Party.

Trump had an unusual opportunity to speak to the nation as a transformed, or at least changed, man at his Thursday night acceptance speech. He had impressively attended the previous three nights of speeches — virtually all of them in tribute to him. He sat there lapping it all up, smiling, often looking humble as well as happy, sometimes with a grandchild on his lap.

Many observers were hoping to hear a “new Trump” or maybe a “reborn” Trump, who just a few days earlier had escaped from a horrifying near-death experience.

But Trump’s acceptance speech, except for his opening remarks about the assassination attempt and the death of local rally attender, was disappointing and a meandering reprise of his routine campaign rallies. He bragged and exaggerated about his past achievements. And he promised to achieve remarkable economic and foreign policy breakthroughs when he is reelected this November. He promised a lot — a Trump Dream Deal.

The occasion called for a unifying talk, for reaching out to Nikki Haley voters, for reaching out to traditional Republicans and younger voters. Yet Trump decided to continue to be Trump. He blasted President Joe Biden, former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the Department of Justice.

His message was that he was a fighter and a strongman, and that the country had to be “saved” again. God spared his life for a reason. As some of his cheerleaders put it, America needs a bada**, and “he is a real American bada**.”

Trump promised he would fight for our “safety, prosperity, and freedom.” He promised to protect us from the worst invasion — of immigrants — in our history. He promised to continue building his wall on the Mexican border.

He said he would reduce inflation and the national debt and at the same time cut taxes. He will end electric vehicle (EV) requirements and will stop green environmental scams. When it comes to oil exploration, he will “drill, baby, drill.”

He pledged to end U.S. government taxation of tips earned by restaurant workers and drivers. He promised to build an “Iron Dome” shield for the nation. And he declared, we are on “the cusp of a new golden age.”

He reiterated: “I stand before you only by the grace of almighty God.” He said he felt uncommonly safe at the time he was shot because, “I had God on my side.”

Republicans staged a memorable and uncommonly unified convention that hailed Donald Trump as their past and future “Superman” and an American savior. Yet, as one commentator noted, Superman in his acceptance speech “didn’t seem to have his cape.”

Tom Cronin and Bob Loevy are political columnists who write about Colorado and national politics.