Trump Announces 2-Day GOP Midterm Convention in Dallas as Republicans Bet on Base Turnout
Updated
Updated · New York Magazine · Aug 20
Trump Announces 2-Day GOP Midterm Convention in Dallas as Republicans Bet on Base Turnout
3 articles · Updated · New York Magazine · Aug 20
Summary
Sept. 9-10 in Dallas, Trump will headline the first GOP midterm convention, a two-night event he billed as "the greatest rally of them all" just before early voting begins in some states.
Republican organizers are framing the gathering less as a traditional convention than a fundraising and mobilization push — chairman Joe Gruters has called it "Trumpapalooza" — with no votes or party business planned.
That strategy reflects GOP fears that without Trump effectively on the ballot, MAGA turnout will sag; party officials are using lotteries and ticket sales to fill an audience of committed supporters.
The gamble is that energizing the base outweighs the risk of making the midterms a referendum on Trump, whose standing has weakened in his second term and could alienate swing voters.