Republican midterm convention provides Vance center stage moment as party faces midterm verdict
DALLAS (AP) — Republicans opened the second and final day of their midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday knowing that history is not on their side this election season, but counting on President Donald Trump to propel voters to protect their House and Senate majorities.
They're also setting the stage for what could come next, in a post-Trump era, as Vice President JD Vance takes center stage with a primetime speaking slot just ahead of the president. Vance has not said whether he will run for the White House, and Trump has yet to name an heir apparent.
With Republican control of Congress at risk this November and the next presidential election two years away, voters are still assessing their options.
“We’ve got a deep bench,” said Bruce Johnston, 62, who drove 29 hours with his son from Delaware to be in Dallas. “I mean you’ve got a lot of good candidates. I’d pick any of those for the primary. And we’ll get a good one.”
His son, Anthony, 33, said he believes Vance is being groomed as Trump's successor.
“No one’s Trump,” he said. “But I like him a lot.”
More immediately, however, Republicans face a potential reckoning this fall.
They are struggling to bolster enthusiasm to get out the vote for congressional candidates and laboring to overcome voters’ concerns about the economy and the war with Iran. While many Republicans skipped the confab at American Airlines Center, others in the party still see solidarity with Trump as their best shot at winning, despite the president’s low approval rating.
They spent the first night denouncing Democrats as extremists before Trump capped Wednesday by making the outlandish promise of $5,000 to each American adult if his party wins. Such a proposal could cost more than $1 trillion and was roundly panned by budget experts, and even some Republicans in the president's party.
“The midterms are not supposed to be won by the sitting president,” Trump acknowledged during a lengthy primetime speech.
But he framed the election as a referendum and encouraged voters to cast their ballots as if they were voting for him: “Pretend I’m on the ballot.”
House Democrats, in Texas for a second day of counterprogramming, blasted the Republicans’ convention as an opulent spectacle for an out-of-touch president.
“As Donald Trump and JD Vance party away for two days, the average American family can’t afford the groceries,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-California. “Donald Trump does not care about the average American family or about affordability.”
Protesters chanting “say it loud, say it clear, Donald Trump’s not welcome here” marched down streets, but were stopped by police from getting too close to the site.
Vance’s keynote will be closely watched for any hints about his political aspirations. The vice president has demurred on whether he will run for president in 2028, but he’s widely expected to run.
The vice president, who also serves as the Republican National Committee’s finance chair, raised $2 million for the party earlier Thursday at a fundraiser in Dallas, according to a person familiar with the event who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The second night of the convention will once again include a roster of Republican lawmakers, some of them the most electorally endangered in the country, as well as another potential presidential hopeful, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
Laura Loomer, the Trump ally known for her incendiary social media posts, said she has yet to pick a candidate, but has deep concerns about Vance over his friendship with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who has been accused of providing a platform for antisemites.
“I have nothing against the vice president, but I need to see him disavow Tucker,” said Loomer, who has a history of racist and anti-Muslim statements.
Coming on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the evening will mark that moment and also pay tribute to assassinated conservative leader Charlie Kirk, who co-founded the conservative group Turning Point USA and was assassinated in Utah last year.
Republican Greg Cunningham, who is trying to unseat a Democratic lawmaker in New Mexico, said it was Kirk who inspired him “to step up and run for Congress.”
The night's themes are expected to delve deeply into what House Speaker Mike Johnson calls the “Contrast for America,” as Republicans showcase what they call their “Big Beautiful Bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts, and warn of a bleak future if Democrats take control.
The campaign slogan is a throwback to an earlier era, when another Republican leader, Newt Gingrich, offered a Contract with America. This time, rather than presenting a detailed list of priorities, Republicans are drawing a contrast with the Democrats, who they contend are too far left and would focus on investigating the Trump administration.
“This is what we're talking about when we say common sense versus crazy communists,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., warning Wednesday of impeachments ahead if Republicans stay home.
“Are you going to let that happen?” he asked.
Many in the crowd, filled with MAGA gear and cowboy hats, roared back, “No!”
Republicans have been quick to portray all Democrats as in line with their most liberal candidates, particularly a new generation, some backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. Still, one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, joined by video address, saying he would always reject extremes.
With the Republican majorities in the House and Senate both at risk this fall, the president’s agenda for his final two years in office is also at stake. The margins in Congress are expected to be narrow, with a few seats in a shrunken map of competitive races determining the outcome.
Presidents past have acknowledged their midterm losses — Barack Obama called his 2010 setbacks a “shellacking,” George W. Bush labeled his a “thumping.”
But Trump often refuses to accept defeat, including his false claims that he, rather than Joe Biden, won the 2020 election. One of the many people he pardoned for their actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, former Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, appeared at the convention.
Trump on Wednesday predicted that “the great American majority is going to stand up and continue to Make America Great Again. And we will make our voices heard, perhaps like never before.”
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Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Thomas Beaumont and Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Will Weissert, Steven Sloan, and Aamer Madhani in Washington, JJ Cooper in Phoenix, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.
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