The Daily Trail: Welcome to the 'Trump National Convention'

It's been a rough week all around. Last night, the candidates weighed in on a stunning terror attack in Nice, France. Tonight, they'll be asked to weigh in on the apparent coup in Turkey. (We can't say if this is the worst July we've ever seen, because this July has been so bad that it has over-written our memories of previous Julys. But it's a contender. We can't even say TGIF, because F didn't end too well either.)

So it makes perfect sense that right at this moment, as we type, some political figures may be having their worst day of perhaps the worst month in this, the worst year. We don't just mean Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has apparently been webstreaming his assurances that the military coup will fail from an undisclosed location. Here, via Fix founder Chris Cillizza, are four people who had a bad day (actually three; we count one of them twice, because his day really was just that bad.) And, because we want to leave you, our valued readers, with a glimmer of hope, seven who didn't!

First, the losers:

(He's had better days.) (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

* Chris Christie: There's just no way to spin this one. Christie sacrificed his political career -- his early endorsement of Trump was widely mocked by the party establishment -- in the hopes that his show of early loyalty would be rewarded with the VP nod. It wasn't.

He's now become a punchline for the ages -- with absolutely nothing to show for it. (Yes, Christie could wind up as attorney general in a Trump administration. But, that's not the same as VP. Not close.)

It's been a remarkable -- and remarkably bad -- last four years for Christie. He passed on a late entry into the 2012 Republican presidential race where he would have been a co-front-runner, weathered an in-state bridge scandal, ran unsuccessfully for president and, now, finished as a bridesmaid in the veepstakes.

* Chris Christie: Yes, it was that bad.

* Endorsements: They just don't matter at all. Christie endorsed Trump early on. Pence endorsed directly against Trump -- he backed Ted Cruz -- in the run-up to the May 3 Indiana primary. (Trump won that primary going away.) Trump picked Pence. Proving, yet again, that endorsements are not only overrated in terms of their ability to sway voters but also when it comes to how much good will they earn you with the endorsee. Politicians make decisions based on what is good for them at that moment. Period.

* My weekend: I was really looking forward to a quiet Saturday before heading to Cleveland on Sunday. (Relatedly, hello Cleveland!) Now Trump will formally unveil Pence at 11 a.m. Saturday. Come on, man. What are we even doing out here? [This is the business we've chosen, Chris --Ed.]

Don't go yet! We promised you winners, too. And winners you shall have.

(#Winning.) REUTERS/John Sommers II

* Mike Pence: In the space of 24 hours, Pence went from a more-difficult-than-it-should-be gubernatorial re-election race to the national ticket. Yes, he will be sharing that ticket with the least popular and least predictable Republican nominee in modern history. But, worst case scenario, Pence will leave 2016 with "vice presidential nominee" on his resume. And, assuming he acquits himself decently over the next few months, he will be a potential first-tier candidate come 2020. And, best case scenario, Pence is the vice president of the United States. Win-win.

* Paul Manafort: Trump's chief strategist was the loudest voice behind the scenes for Pence. The Indiana governor fit Manafort's desire to use the pick as a bit of outreach to a party establishment still very skeptical about uniting behind Trump. Since being brought into the campaign in the spring, Manafort has not only won a series of internal skirmishes but also proven he has The Donald's ear. That's a very rare trait -- and a valuable one.

* Paul Ryan/Mitch McConnell: Out of Trump's final three, Pence was clearly the preferred candidate of the two Republican congressional leaders. In Pence, Ryan and McConnell have a known and trusted commodity. They also have someone they can go to when their concerns about what Trump is saying or doing grow too large for them to stay silent. And, in theory, they now have a conduit directly to Trump. Whether or not Trump will listen to Pence's advice, of course, is an open debate.

* Newt Gingrich: No, Gingrich didn't get picked to be Trump's VP. But, ask yourself this: Three months ago, did you think Newt would even be in the conversation for VP in 2016? NO CHANCE. Gingrich has a way of just turning up in the national political conversation -- and he did it again over the past few months. Sure, Newt would rather have been the vice-presidential pick but he's now elevated himself into a likely Trump cabinet position if Trump wins or voice for the "new" Republican Party no matter what happens this fall. Gingrich's political life has taken any number of unpredictable terms; this is the latest one.

* Roll Call: The Fix's newspaper alma mater broke this Pence news on Thursday morning. (Patricia Murphy, a columnist for Roll Call, was the one who broke it.) For a publication badly in need of some buzz, breaking the Pence news is a big deal.

* Twitter: Cut through all of the "who is he picking/when is he picking" stuff and you get this: Trump announced his VP pick via Twitter.

It's yet more evidence that newsmakers are increasingly in charge of how they choose to make their news public. And how Twitter is almost always the default option to do that.

* Every ambitious Indiana Republican not named Mike Pence: A month ago, it looked like all of the chances for advancement up the ranks in the Hoosier State had been closed off. Pence was running for a second term and Rep. Todd Young had won the Republican primary to replace retiring Sen. Dan Coats. Ambitious GOP pols had to circle 2018 when Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) is up for reelection as their next big chance. No more! Pence leaving means an open governor's nomination -- and lots of Republicans are making sure they are in the mix.

(Next up: Cleveland.) (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

By the way, it wasn't your imagination — even if you weren't one of names on Trump's shortlist, the past 24 hours were a campaign roller coaster....as Philip Bump noted.

It is possible that Donald Trump took all the assessments that the rollout couldn't have gone any worse as a challenge, because late this afternoon, improbably, it did, with leaks out of the Trump camp that the presumptive nominee had had some second thoughts on his way to the altar.

The news was followed by forceful denials from the Trump campaign...

...denials which might have had more impact if aides hadn't spent most of the previous day and night insisting that Trump actually hadn't made up his mind at all; as anyone who's ever frantically tried to cancel an Amazon purchase at 2 a.m. can tell you, it's a pretty short hop from chronic indecision to buyer's remorse.

While we're talking mixed messages: this ad from Hillary Clinton, calling Pence "the most extreme vice presidential pick in a generation"...

...might have a touch more impact if the White House hadn't spent Thursday praising Pence for sharing the president's position on trade and other policies.

We're going to hear a lot more over the next few months about all the ways in which Mike Pence is basically the unTrump; to get you started, here's a brief and incomplete list of differences between Donald Trump and his likely running mate, beyond the fact that Trump probably voted for Trump during the presidential primary season, and Pence...did not.

(Like this. This would be a difference):

Here are a few more:

CONVENTIONING SO HARD RIGHT NOW: Today, we are typing to you from sweltering D.C., where a Metro rat just emerged and saw his shadow, which means we get six more weeks of air quality alert days. But relief is in sight! They say there's nothing quite like Cleveland in July -- that's the dream. And next week, we will be living the dream.

(They've ballooned up already.) (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

—Welcome to the Trump National Convention. The list of more than five dozen convention speakers released yesterday includes as many Trumps as it does U.S. senators; it includes the general manager of Trump's Virginia winery, and the vice president of the Eric Trump Foundation/senior assistant to Eric Trump, and the president of a Bronx waterproofing company who owns property on East 58th Street in Manhattan, but no former GOP presidents, vice presidents or nominees.

For a full list of who's going to be there, look here. For a partial list of who won't, check out this fantastic montage from Post video producer Sarah Parnass:

—Beyond the stage, the attendees will include an unknown number of committed #NeverTrump delegates. The insurgents suffered a bruising Rules Committee defeat that effectively ended any legitimate shot at stopping a Trump nomination ("Now do you accept the fact that 'Never Trump' is nevermore?" Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort asked The Post's Ed O'Keefe after the panel's vote.) But the rebels have said they won't go quietly. Said one: “If they thought they were going to have the nice, unified kumbaya show, they just completely guaranteed they’re not going to have it.” [Area reporter pulls out list, adds "pack popcorn."]

—"The host committee charged with raising $64 million to put on the festivities around next week's Republican National Convention in Cleveland confirmed that it asked billionaires Sheldon and Miriam Adelson for a last-minute infusion of $6 million to make up a fundraising gap. In a statement released Friday afternoon, David Gilbert, chief executive of the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee, said that the committee staff sent a letter to the casino magnate and his wife detailing their fundraising needs, as first reported Thursday by Politico. The letter blamed the funding shortfall on controversy surrounding putative GOP nominee Donald Trump." There's a lot more to the story by Matea Gold; check it out here.

—And now: a servicey Fix convention quiz! If you're headed to Cleveland, what can you bring to the event zone — an area that includes most of the downtown area — and what should you leave behind?

One of the items below is allowed in the event zone; one is not. Here's the full quiz — if you're not into tests, but are curious about the answers to the following two questions, we'll leave the answers below. And here's a link to the website of the local Fox affiliate where we got this important and timely info.

(SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO ARE PLANNING TO TAKE THE QUIZ — STOP READING HERE AND SKIP TO THE NEXT SECTION. OK, THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, HERE COME THE ANSWERS: Your AR-15 is ok, with the proper permits — Ohio is an open carry state — but you better leave those tennis balls on the court where they belong, because they're not welcome in a good chunk of downtown Cleveland next week.)

In any case: it promises to be an eventful week. And The Post is rolling deep in Cleveland. We'll give you a full coverage rundown Monday; in the meantime, bookmark this link, and this one, for all your convention coverage needs, and this for the speaker schedule.

VEEPSTAKING AGAIN, SOME MORE:

As one veepstakes season ends, another heats up: "Hillary Clinton held a series of meetings with potential vice-presidential picks and her top aides at her home in Washington on Friday, a sign that she is preparing to make a decision as the Democratic Party's convention nears," reported Abby Phillip and Ed O'Keefe.

"Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was spotted being dropped off at Clinton's home and remained there for about an hour, according to CNN and NBC News. A person familiar with that meeting confirmed that Warren did meet with Clinton.

"The same networks reported that Clinton also met at her home with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, whose name has been less prominent on Clinton's list of potential running mates. Clinton also met with Hickenlooper while campaigning in Denver late last month, and he later told reporters that the vice presidential search 'briefly' came up.

"Clinton also met behind closed doors Friday with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, another potential running mate, according to two other people familiar with the meetings.

"Clinton's campaign confirmed late Friday that she held meetings regarding regarding a running mate but did not publicly discuss contenders. The former secretary of state was seen leaving her home around 5:40 p.m., by which time the meetings had apparently wrapped up.

"On Thursday, Clinton campaigned in Northern Virginia with Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.), who is also being vetted as a potential vice-presidential pick. ..."

Pop quiz! What does everyone on that list have in common (besides the "registered Democrats" thing.)

Time's up:

Right now, they are all more popular than their party's presumptive nominee.

YOUR DAILY TRAIL PIT STOP: Cleveland Rocks! See you next week.