President Donald Trump is scheduled to be the primetime headliner both nights of the first-ever Republican National Convention (RNC) "midterm convention," which gets underway today in Dallas.
The agenda is essentially a campaign message-and-rally event, rather than a traditional convention with party business or nominations, where the RNC is essentially highlighting what Republicans have accomplished under Trump, what they want to do next for the economy, border security, healthcare, families and public safety, and why voters should keep them in power.
The president is actively seeking to make the midterm elections a referendum on himself and his record to energize his core base ahead of key races that will determine whether the GOP keeps control of Congress.
"I don't see how it can hurt," says Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families. "President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have an incredible record to run on. Their accomplishments make the Biden administration look like exactly what it was, four years of walking in your sleep."
But Bauer, who served for eight years in President Ronald Reagan's administration and ran for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in the 2000 presidential election, says it is very difficult to get the message out over the drumbeat of media propaganda.
Major news organizations like Reuters, AP, and CBS are covering the event, but it has received considerably less wall-to-wall television coverage than a traditional presidential-year convention. CNN and MSNBC, for example, do not seem to be providing the usual prominent coverage for a presidential convention.
"The hope is there might be a certain number of Americans that don't regularly tune in but may check it out, see what's going on, or a speech could be given that really captures people's attention," Bauer submits.
Dozens of Republican lawmakers indicated they would not attend the two-day event because of fundraisers or events in their districts that were planned before the convention was scheduled in June. Others cited personal conflicts, like weddings and family events.
Bauer says not attending is "their decision to make."
"But I trust the political judgment of President Trump a lot more than I do the typical Republican in Republican politics," he adds.
Sen. Jon Husted, who is facing a tough election campaign in Ohio, thinks attending the convention will give him an opportunity to tell the people what his party has done to make their lives better and more affordable.
He is one of the 109 officials, candidates, and everyday Americans slated to give remarks over the course of the two days.
"I intend to talk about the working family tax cut plan, where we cut taxes on tips, cut taxes on overtime, eliminated some taxes on social security, Trump accounts so that every newborn can get a thousand dollars in their account, cut taxes on buying an American car — all of these things that made life more affordable for people so that they could keep more of what they earned to spend and save on their priorities," Husted said.
He also thinks it is important to remind people how Republicans differ from their opponents.
"We're not Democratic socialists. We don't believe the outlandish things that they believe, where they want to empower the federal government to take more out of people's pockets," he notes. "I want to talk to them about how we trust the American people, and we're trying to let them keep more of what they earn."
Bauer thinks the convention will help generate voter turnout so that the GOP does better than expected in November.
Texas, for example, which for years has been reliably Republican in statewide elections, is the setting of a competitive race between Ken Paxton (R) and James Talraico (D). The seat is viewed as a key test of whether Republicans can hold their Senate majority, but Talarico has led some recent polls.
Paxton is among the high-profile convention participants, and Reuters specifically identifies his Senate race as one of the contests being highlighted at the event. Bauer says the fact that the convention is taking place in Paxton's state can help ensure that the GOP keeps the Senate seat there.
"I think it's a good thing," he says.
