Trump holds unusual party conference before the midterms in Dallas

Donald Trump needs to be informed. Even before he left for Texas on Wednesday to attend the Republican convention he had scheduled, it was clear that he would address the delegates twice. On Wednesday evening and Thursday. His first appearance didn't want to end at all. The president let teleprompters be teleprompters, told anecdotes and repeatedly tried to spread confidence with a view to the congressional elections in two months. So far, “midterms” have always been difficult for presidents, he says. He will change that. In November it will be a question of whether things will continue to improve or the country will stumble again.

Trump absolutely wanted to hold a party conference before the congressional elections. Actually, the meeting in Dallas is just a normal rally at the start of the hot election campaign phase of the “midterms”. “Conventions” only take place every four years - they are electoral party conferences at which the presidential candidate is chosen after the internal party primaries. Republicans have never used party meetings before congressional elections, but Democrats did in the 1970s and 1980s. Trump, of course, proudly claimed on Wednesday evening in Dallas that a party was holding a “midterm convention” for the first time.

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The president made no secret of what he was after: "Act like I'm on the ballot. Go out and vote," he said. The “convention”, at the end of which the obligatory balloons will fall from the hall ceiling into the crowd, is intended to mobilize the tired supporters.

Fear of a “blue wave”

The GOP is faced with a double problem: On the one hand, the presidential party is traditionally punished for its government record in congressional elections. This also threatens the Republicans. Trump's approval ratings are at an all-time low. At the same time - and this is what the President is concerned about - some of the die-hard Trumpists, who would otherwise forgive their leader for almost anything, tend not to vote - because the head of the movement is not up for election.

Things aren't going well for Trump right now. There is the Iran War, which is unpopular among its own MAGA base. There is - as a result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz - inflation, which was now higher than under his predecessor Joe Biden. And there are a number of other construction sites in the government where things are not going as well as Trump would like. Ted Cruz, the Republican senator from Texas, didn't mince his words on Wednesday: There are certainly moderates in the party who were annoyed about this or that. And there are some conservatives who are bothered by one thing or another. If the party does not stand together and only one group stays at home, there will be a “blue wave”, i.e. a clear victory for the Democrats.

Trump therefore prepared his sentences: He predicted that the Iran war would end immediately after the midterms. The regime in Tehran would then be over. Then there will be an end to inflation. His long-running favorites followed: He closed the borders, set illegal migration to zero and stopped crime. All of this would be at risk if the “communists” gained control of the Congress. The longer he talked, the quieter the hall became.

Incidentally, the Democrats are used to such attacks from the president. However, they were surprised by a video appearance by John Fetterman, their senator from Pennsylvania, who called for “bipartisan” cooperation. He is a “common sense” Democrat who rejects extremes, including socialism, and therefore praises his Republican co-senators from Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick. He is proud to be able to call him his friend. Together with him and Trump, he is fighting to preserve Pennsylvania's steel industry.

The pseudo-“convention” met with a mixed response among Republicans. Critics do not speak out publicly. But only around 100 members and candidates for the House of Representatives showed up in Dallas. The fact that many stayed away was less due to the ticket prices of $25,000 than to the fact that many are cautiously keeping their distance from the President and prefer to attend appointments in their constituencies. Trump, of course, justified the situation by saying that there wasn't enough space for everyone in the hall.