JOHN WHITESIDES and JEFF MASON  FIRST lady Melania Trump offered sympathy for victims of the coronavirus pandemic and a plea for racial understanding in a Republican convention speech on Tuesday aimed directly at the women voters who have abandoned U.S. President Donald Trump. On the convention's second day, the speech's warm tone was out of step with a Republican gathering that featured harsh rhetoric about Democratic challenger Joe Biden and sometimes apocalyptic warnings about the dangers of Democratic governance. Trump's wife acknowledged the pain of the pandemic in sharp contrast to most other speakers at the party's national convention, notably…