But more than all of that, there was something else missing Sunday from his address. There was a certain directness and clear-eyed ambition absent from his remarks, something suggesting that he has his heart set on retaking the White House. He is surely the crowd-pleasing bomb-thrower he ever was, but that is mostly how he appeared Sunday in Orlando: An entertainer, not as a man invested in the idea of running for president. This was no former President Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 or former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the Republican National Convention in 2012.

This was just — Trump being Trump…

Perhaps, then, Trump’s speech this weekend was not so much about laying the groundwork for himself, but for those looking to follow in his footsteps. Perhaps the way to think of his speech is to think of it as a man keeping the fires stoked.