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DALLAS : Republicans used the opening night of their unusual midterm convention on Wednesday to hammer Democrats as extremists and pledge unwavering devotion to President Donald Trump, proudly placing their party\u2019s undisputed leader at the center of upcoming midterm elections \u2014 even if his low approval ratings might ultimately drag them down in November.<\/p>\n
Many Republicans, including those facing tight races, are skipping the two-day affair in Dallas, while others hope their appearance will put them in the national spotlight as they work to turn out Trump\u2019s supporters in a year without him on the ballot.<\/p>\n
The convention \u2014 part rally, part fundraiser \u2014 comes as Republicans try to boost enthusiasm heading into the final stretch before Election Day, despite voters\u2019 economic concerns and dissatisfaction with the war in Iran. Much of the agenda sought to cast Democrats as too left wing, describing them as communists, anti-American or even evil. Republicans called themselves a \u201ccommon sense\u201d alternative in the fight to maintain control of Congress.<\/p>\n
The show even got a boost from an unlikely source, Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who told the crowd in a video message that \u201cI\u2019m always going to reject the extremes and socialism.\u201d Fetterman, who has clashed with his party\u2019s leaders, referenced his state\u2019s steel industry in pledging to \u201cwork with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coinciding with the convention\u2019s opening night, Trump\u2019s political operation, which has been sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars, began spending heavily through a new group, the No Going Back PAC Inc., The New York Times first reported Wednesday. The group has reserved $49 million in six competitive Senate races and one competitive House race.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s in addition to the $10 million that MAGA Inc., Trump\u2019s super PAC, has spent on the Texas Senate race.<\/p>\n
The lineup features Trump and more Trump<\/strong><\/p>\n Normal political conventions are held every four years and serve a purpose beyond pomp and circumstance, with parties formally nominating their presidential picks. This week\u2019s convention, by contrast, is The Trump Show, through and through.<\/p>\n \u201cDo we love President Trump?\u201d Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters, one of the first speakers, asked the crowd. He had promoted the event before it began as \u201ca Trump-a-Palooza.\u201d<\/p>\n The walls of the basketball arena, where the Dallas Mavericks play, were covered with photographs of Trump, even in the elevators. Plenty of attendees wore cowboy hats and boots, as well as \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d and American flag caps and other gear.<\/p>\n \u201cLooks very big. Looks very exciting,\u201d Trump said of the gathering crowd before boarding Air Force One to fly to Dallas.<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t actually the case during the first hour of afternoon programming, when speeches were delivered to scores of empty seats, even in areas close to the stage. Crowds began filling them up well before Trump\u2019s speech, however.<\/p>\n The president also said that oil prices \u2014 which have surged because of the Iran war \u2014 likely won\u2019t come down until after the midterms, a bit of economic forecasting that could darken his party\u2019s fortunes.<\/p>\n \u201cRight after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,\u201d he promised. That came as oil prices jumped more than 3 percent Wednesday.<\/p>\n Trump speaks both nights, delivering a keynote address on Wednesday night and speaking again on Thursday, after Vance gives his own address.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, he\u2019s an entertainer, right? He obviously loves big, big events and his career has been built around that,\u201d said Ray Washburne, co-chair of the Dallas host committee, at a pre-convention event hosted by Bloomberg News. \u201cHe\u2019s always front and center.\u201d<\/p>\n Washburne said the event is expected to draw roughly 30,000 people across both nights, but getting airtime could be challenging. The NFL season kicks off Wednesday with a game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. And on Thursday, the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will be playing in Australia.<\/p>\n The agenda includes some key candidates<\/strong><\/p>\n Also addressing the convention are members of the Republican congressional leadership and Cabinet members, including Attorney General Todd Blanche and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The president\u2019s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is on the roster, too.<\/p>\n Candidates who will speak include Michigan Senate nominee Mike Rogers, who is running a high-profile race against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, and North Carolina Senate nominee Michael Whatley, who is up against former Gov. Roy Cooper.<\/p>\n Organizers have outlined 12 hours of programming over the two nights, featuring more than 100 speakers and segments focused on subjects such as tax cuts, fraud allegations, border security and a proposed ban on members of Congress trading stocks.<\/p>\n Missing from the public agenda: any mention of the unpopular Iran war.<\/p>\n Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said some members of his caucus plan to skip Dallas, preferring to stay home and campaign for reelection, but many of them will make an appearance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll parade our stars across the stage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Organizers say they\u2019re fine with some Republicans skipping the convention<\/strong><\/p>\n Washburne said there were strong reasons for some lawmakers and candidates to pass on attending.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing, we just have so many speaking slots. We can\u2019t get them all in. The other is: If you\u2019re not in a contested race, it really doesn\u2019t make much sense to come. And the ones in contested races, they need to be in their home states to campaign,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Some balked at high attendance fees. Republican House members were being asked to pay $25,000 for convention tickets and lodging, according to people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to speak frankly about the private arrangement.<\/p>\n An additional 2,000 tickets were distributed by the National Republican Congressional Committee, largely to donors and others to attend the convention. Other tickets were allocated to state parties to distribute as they saw fit.<\/p>\n \u201cPer the RNC, this is a ticketed fundraiser and rally, not a traditional national convention,\u201d the Denton County Republican Party in Texas wrote in a Facebook post, which advertised packages from $5,000 to $20,000.<\/p>\n Still, more than 100 Republican House members and candidates are expected to attend, including almost all of the MAGA Majority class of candidates in the most targeted congressional districts, according to a person familiar with the event who requested anonymity before it begins.<\/p>\n Democrats say Republicans are out of touch<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that these Republicans are planning a celebration in the middle of an economic crisis \u2014 where everyday Americans are drowning because of this high cost of living \u2014 is extraordinary,\u201d Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said at the US Capitol last week.<\/p>\n Democrats have held such midterm conventions in the past but are not doing so this year. Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said she wasn\u2019t worried that her party was missing an opportunity to make its case on a national stage like Republicans.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are not focused on the issues that people are struggling with right now, that they\u2019ve created,\u201d DelBene said. \u201cCost, housing, food, health care, childcare, energy costs, gas prices all going up. That\u2019s what we\u2019re talking about on the ground all across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n