DALLAS — As red, white, blue and gold balloons dropped from the ceiling, President Trump stood on stage to mark the end of his midterm convention, serenaded by a favorite aria. Puccini's opera "Nessun dorma" ends with a triumphant proclamation: "vincerò," or "I will win!" But the Republican Party's chances in November are less optimistic, as Trump faces record low approval ratings, an unpopular war in Iran, rising gas prices and the historic expectation that the party in power loses. The two day party at the American Airlines Center in Dallas highlighted the GOP's biggest asset in getting out the vote — Trump — and its greatest obstacle in convincing voters to keep Republicans in power — also Trump.
Throughout the convention, members of the administration and candidates locked in tight races offered little distance from the president and his vision of the future. In his keynote address Wednesday, Trump made headlines for an impossible promise to give American adults $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate, and reiterated the GOP's messaging that paints November as a choice between "common sense versus crazy." Here are the takeaways from the Republican Party's midterm convention. One of the more common pleas was for Trump supporters to support other Republicans.
"I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot," the president implored the first day. "You know what happens if you don't vote? You go to hell," he said on the second night.
After suffering defeats in 2024, Democrats have now expressed more enthusiasm to vote, have flipped a number of state and local seats and improved their margins with nearly every voter demographic group in elections across the country since then. At the same time, the Republican base has fractured over key issues in the last 18 months, including the war in Iran, the handling of the release of the Epstein files, surging gas prices and rising costs driven by tariffs. Trump is a singular force in motivating the current Republican base to vote and his magnetism was on display at the convention, which featured credentials emblazoned with his likeness, pictures of the president on display throughout the arena and speeches that praised him as one of the best leaders in American history.
But for many other speakers, including nominees in key House and Senate races, the reception was less enthusiastic. The entertainer Adam Carolla, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saw some of the warmest receptions and had more time on the stage than figures like North Carolina Senate nominee Michael Whatley or Ohio's Republican senator, John Husted.
Both days, there were thousands of empty seats, including almost all of the upper level, even as Trump insisted the arena was "packed" with "thousands" more waiting outside. As Republican candidates hone their general election message, a frequent feature of the speeches was the personal attacks and insults hurled at Democratic opponents that reiterated the view that the election was about stopping Democrats from having any power and challenging Trump's agenda. Whatley said his opponent Roy Cooper was the "the worst governor in the history of North Carolina" when it came to keeping children safe.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
