Pence does it the old-fashioned way

He stuck to the script, reusing familiar lines and boiling down the Trump campaign’s message into a neat sales pitch. There was no swearing and no attacking other Republicans. In other words, Mr. Pence, the governor of Indiana, gave his speech like a career politician — and it worked.

Mr. Pence, overshadowed by Donald J. Trump throughout the vice-presidential rollout, used his first prominent solo performance to describe the 2016 election as a choice between a candidate of change (Mr. Trump) and “a stale agenda and the most predictable of names” in Hillary Clinton. He vouched for Mr. Trump’s moral character, calling him “the right man for these times.”

After two days of meandering speeches from obscure politicians and minor celebrities, Mr. Pence brought roars of enthusiasm from the crowd and set a high bar for Mr. Trump to clear, with his more freewheeling approach, on Thursday.

Cruz 2020 begins

The runner-up in the Republican primaries, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, did not endorse Mr. Trump for president. He congratulated him on winning the Republican nomination but urged Americans only to vote their conscience in the fall. At one point, Mr. Cruz explicitly looked past the 2016 election.