It's Trump's moment to talk to the nation — and GOP doubters

The most important speech of his presidential campaign will bring down the balloons on a convention marked by divided loyalties and unwanted distractions as well as full-throated roars against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

The remarks, in an interview with The New York Times, deviated from decades of U.S. foreign policy doctrine and seemed to suggest he would put new conditions on the 67-year-old alliance's bedrock principle of collective defense.

Intra-party divisions were sharply on display Wednesday night in a hall that echoed first with cheers for Trump's fiercest opponent in the primaries, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, from his supporters, then thunderous boos from the pro-Trump masses when Cruz wrapped up his speech without endorsing the nominee.

Mike Pence's acceptance speech as Trump's running mate was overshadowed as a result, one more missed opportunity at a convention with a daily drip of them.

The episode made it hard for Pence, the Indiana governor and a favorite of conservatives who have decidedly mixed feelings about Trump, to make much of a splash.

[...] he's had to do it all by himself against all odds, but this week, with this united party, he's got backup.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich tried to quiet the anger as he took the stage, going off script to try to explain away the senator's lack of support for the nominee.

For three days running the convention's intended message of the day got sideswiped by unwelcome developments — a biting if short-lived scrap over rules during the opening, a storm over plagiarism in Melania Trump's speech that spilled into Wednesday, then Cruz's performance from the stage.