Will First-Ever Republican Midterm Convention Be a Boom or Bust?

It’s a major happening. Dozens of Republican politicians and celebrities will be speaking to a packed house over multiple nights at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Party leaders from across the land and Vice President JD Vance will address the audience, as will President Donald Trump. If you thought we were describing the 2024 GOP National Convention, think again. Same idea, different timing. Indeed, for the first time ever for either major party, Republicans will host a midterm convention on September 9 and 10.

Unconventional Midterm Convention

The party believes the conclave will cultivate and strengthen relationships between officeholders, candidates, fundraisers, contributors, and marketers attempting to build a united front to stave off the Democrats on Election Day. Considering past history and teetering approval for the president over the Iran War and a cost of living that continues to rise, the GOP at this point is widely expected to lose control of the House and cling to power in the Senate. But neither chamber is a lock for either party.

Part of Trump’s and the GOP’s calculation in calling for this convention is to create a striking contrast with the opposition. A national midterm convention is not something the Democrats could pull off right now because the party is riven by stark ideological divisions between traditional liberals and the growing socialist wing. Their substantially different worldviews would only be accentuated before a national audience, and the far left would likely scare off independent voters and even some Democrats. 

But the Republicans stand in sharp relief as a party entirely behind Trump, and this convention will provide them opportunities to put the president as close to front and center as possible in an election where he is not on the ballot, while selling their agenda for the last two years of the Trump era. This convention can serve almost as a dress rehearsal for 2028, as the conventioneers run their narrative up the flagpole and see who salutes. According to the Republican National Committee (RNC), the convention will highlight Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as well as the administration's efforts on fraud, healthcare affordability, immigration, trade and cultural issues. “It’s not just a convention. We’re not going to be voting on anything. This is to rally the troops,” Melinda Preston, chair of the GOP in Denton County, Texas, said. Meanwhile, the state parties are framing the convention as a way to raise money for local candidates.

Extremism on Parade

Just as prominent as Republicans touting their own agenda at the midterm convention is an extended show-and-tell about extremism rising in the Democratic Party. This approach theoretically provides a second possible path to victory. If they can’t sell the voters on their own merits, they can at least try to scare the bejesus out of them by simply restating the declared agenda of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the many Democratic Party congressional candidates who support it. It is safe to assume, for example, that the vast majority of Americans do not favor abolishing the presidency, Senate, and Supreme Court. 

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According to Axios, “GOP operatives spent months compiling footage of Democratic figures — including left-wing commentator Hasan Piker and Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico — that they'll use throughout the convention to paint Democrats as outside the mainstream.” One convention source said: "Our video trove is endless." Indeed, while we have yet to be informed exactly who will be the prime targets for the GOP, you can bet the terms extremist, socialist, communist, Marxist and “Dumocrats” will be employed liberally.

The president and his allies will promote the notion that, present appearances aside, a golden age of peace and prosperity is just around the corner. But rhetoric aside, Republicans must be able to make the case that they can deliver affordability, the issue that has risen to the top of the Democrats’ narrative ever since Zohran Mamdani rode to victory with it in New York City in 2025. Young people in particular struggling to make ends meet, having never lived through the days of communism that enslaved one-third of the entire world, are easy prey for those promising everything for free. Yelling “commie” at every progressive will not be enough. Singing the praises of a free enterprise system that offers opportunity without guarantees instead of being handed everything by the welfare state is a much harder sell for those feeling the weight of a wartime economy.

Like any party selling its wares before a national audience, the GOP needs to present a strong and united front, leading with Trump’s many accomplishments while avoiding excessive talk about present circumstances. And for heaven’s sake, they must avoid doing what Biden did, gaslighting Americans by saying their struggles are not real. 

Can they pull it all off?