The 'Trumpapalooza' Midterm Convention Will Be a Very Different Beast Than the Democrats' Past Versions
By Adam TurnerThe September Republican midterm convention continues to take shape:
The invitations reflect the Republican National Committee’s guidance that state parties use the convention as a “fundraiser” for their own candidates, according to interviews with two party spokespeople. Instead of a traditional convention in which the parties conduct business or elect delegates, the states parties are framing the convention slated for Sept. 9 to 10 in Dallas – which chairman Joe Gruters is calling “Trumpapalooza” – as a way to raise money for local candidates. “It’s not just a convention. We’re not going to be voting on anything. This is to rally the troops,” Denton County GOP Chair Melinda Preston said. “This is to get funds in so that we can help candidates. This is to get our people … across the finish line in November.”
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Joe Gruters said the GOP is doing things differently this year so that it will be able to buck history and win the 2026 midterms and retain control of the House and Senate
As I have written before, the House is really the prime focus of attention; the GOP needs to avoid losing three seats (or more) to maintain a majority. And thanks to the Republican victories in the gerrymandering battles, this is still quite possible.
Gruters was interviewed about the convention by a Dallas NBC channel, which you can see here.
The Republican midterm convention is likely to take place in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The co-chairs of the committee are Ray and Heather Washburne, Kenny and Lisa Troutt – big fundraisers for the Republicans – and former White House Presidential Personnel Office (PPO) Deputy Director Trent Morse. Former RNC Chair Reince Priebus will also serve as senior advisor to the organizing committee. It is expected that tens of thousands of people will attend.
All of this is very new for a modern midterm party convention. The Democrats had three of them before, in 1974, in 1978 and in 1982. The midterm convention idea was born in the 1972 Democrat convention that nominated George McGovern – “one of many actions taken during that period to 'open up' the party to women, minorities, youths and others who were described as victims of past exclusion.”
Most Democrat delegates to these conventions were elected by grassroots Democrats at the local level, although the last convention was made up of a majority of elected and party leaders. All three of them were very undisciplined – it was the Democrats, after all – and those conventions in the 70’s were particularly subject to hijack by left-wing radicals who were pushing their own agendas:
In 1978, the 1,633 delegates who met in Memphis rebelled against the budget-cutting policies of the Carter administration. President Carter was forced to mount a major floor effort by virtually his entire senior White House staff and Cabinet to avoid a repudiation of his policies by the delegates, many of them supporters of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
Another problem the Democrats had was that presidential politics seemed to dominate all three, with potential presidential candidates and party leaders addressing the crowds instead of candidates for Senate and House. In 1985, the Democrat leadership canceled the future midterm conventions because leading Democrats saw them as a waste of time, money, and energy, and because of the over-emphasis on potential presidential candidates rather than midterm congressional candidates.
President Trump has promised a far more disciplined and campaign-focused midterm convention for the Republicans. Now we know that the convention will be used to raise money for GOP campaigns, and not to waste party money (as the Democrats did).
Instead of allowing delegates to vote on whatever issues they so desired, as the Democrats did, the GOP will specifically focus on celebrating, as Trump described it, “the GREAT AMERICAN COMEBACK, and the incredible successes of the American People who transformed our Country through the America First Agenda,” including the following issues:
“NO TAX ON TIPS, NO TAX ON OVERTIME, NO TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY, STRONGER BORDERS, SAFEST EVER COMMUNITIES, LOWER COSTS AND REAL AFFORDABILITY, MORE JOBS, AMERICAN ENERGY DOMINANCE,…Oil Prices are dropping sharply, even as we Denuclearize Iran.”
Addressing the crowd will be “hardworking Americans, our Great Innovators, Entrepreneurs, Manufacturers, First Responders, and Job Creators who are powering our Nation's Golden Age.” And this convention will also be “Great Entertainment — It will be a RALLY like none other!”
Hopefully, also addressing the crowds will be some of the actual Republican candidates for Senate and House, which is another thing the Democrats never bothered to do. Those are the people who a midterm convention is meant to assist, after all.
But "We'll (Just Have to) See What Happens."
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