DALLAS – Needing a spark, Republicans dialed up the volume on the Trump show and unloaded on Democrats in a bid to brand the party as extreme during the GOP’s first-ever midterm convention.
Whether the socialism attacks and President Donald Trump’s ability to rev up his base can revive his party's fortunes remains an open question coming out of the convention.
The two-day extravaganza ended with balloons dropping from the rafters as Trump stood on stage while an opera singer performed. Even the president said he was a “little bit tired of politics” after the GOP poured everything it could muster into a high-production commercial for the party in the hopes of creating a pivot point in an election that has favored Democrats.
Trump implored his followers
to give him one more victory at the polls by protecting his majorities in Congress. He repeatedly asked them to pretend he is on the ballot, at one point leading the crowd in a pledge to vote, hands in the air. The president even offered a $5,000 dividend to every adult American if Republicans maintain control of Congress.
The extraordinary financial incentive was the biggest twist in a convention that otherwise didn’t break much new ground. The GOP has been ramping up its argument for months that Democrats are too far left, while Trump has signaled he plans to be front and center on the campaign trail, despite a low approval rating that threatens to drag down GOP candidates.
Republicans hope the convention will focus and amplify their message, though, and blunt Democrats’ momentum. It may be a long shot in an election where the fundamentals seem unlikely to change and are stacked against the GOP – an unpopular president prosecuting an unpopular war as consumer costs remain a big concern for many voters.
Here are three takeaways from the two nights.
'Contrast with the radicals'
Republicans came into the convention facing a fundamental problem: Polling shows most voters disapprove of the president and many of his policies, from tariffs to the Iran war.
Their solution: Convince the electorate that Democrats are worse. Much of the convention focused on making that contrast, with Vice President JD Vance closing out the second night with a pitch to voters who may have qualms about some of the administration's actions.
"Look, I'm not asking anybody to agree on every single policy of the administration," Vance said. "What I am asking you to do is to recognize the contrast with the radicals, and recognize the achievements of the last 18 months."
Speaker after speaker called Democrats socialists, communists and extremists. House Speaker Mike Johnson framed the election as between "extreme and mainstream." Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Cruz warned that a "new red-green alliance" of "communists and Islamists" has swept over the Democratic Party.
Republicans have seized on Democrats’leftward lurch during a primary season that saw multiple Democratic socialists emerge victorious, although the vast majority of Democratic congressional candidates don’t identify as socialists and there are no card-carrying communists in the bunch.
Pushing back on the GOP attacks during a series of counterprogramming events near the convention, Democrats said the GOP is “obsessed” with socialism and failing to address the issues voters care most about, such as consumer prices.
"Donald Trump doesn’t care about the average American family or affordability,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-California.
And even as Republicans railed about socialism, Trump floated a plan to give $5,000 to every American adult, a massive redistribution of wealth that was widely panned by Democrats and some MAGA figures as a bribe to voters.
Amplifying the Trump show
An event dubbed “Trumpapalooza” by the Republican National Committee chair lived up to the name.
Trump was omnipresent – in pictures hanging on the walls of the arena, in the Trump rubber ducks, golf balls, T-shirts and other merchandise outside the arena, and on the convention stage, where he spoke for nearly two hours the first night and 25 minutes the second.
The president and his advisers have suggested he's the only one who can deliver the GOP voter turnout needed to win. The prospect that many of his voters could sit out the midterms was clearly on the president’s mind as he urged the audience to consider a vote for GOP candidates as a vote for him.
“You got to give me the biggest favor,” Trump said on night two. “You’ve got to pretend I’m on the ticket. I’m on the ticket. I’m on it.”
Trump raised his hand and had the crowd pledge “to the greatest president in history” that they would vote.
Yet while Republicans hope to boost GOP voter enthusiasm that has lagged behind Democrats', some have questioned making the unpopular president the center of the party’s midterm strategy. Republicans in some swing seats skipped the convention, while others came but delivered speeches that ignored Trump or even gently sought some distance.
“The truth is that the president and I don’t always agree, and that’s OK,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican whose district is one of the most competitive in the country.
Democrats are eager to make the election a referendum on Trump, and the convention could help tie GOP candidates more closely to him.
Will voters care?
The GOP’s big swing on a glitzy convention to shake up the race was a crowd pleaser for those in attendance, with Trump receiving a rapturous reception.
Amy Kremer, the Republican National Committeewoman from Georgia, said the first night felt “electric” inside the arena as the president joked and jabbed his way through a marathon speech.
“It was President Trump at his best,” Kremer said as she waited for night two at her hotel, adding: “I just hope that his message resonated with the base and Americans.”
Yet even inside the convention hall there were signs of the party’s struggles to excite its base. While the roughly 20,000-capacity arena was largely full in the lower sections, the uppermost section was nearly empty on both nights. The convention didn't provide a ratings bump for Fox News, which said it averaged 2.5 million viewers. Fox host Sean Hannity averages 2.6 million viewers for his 9 p.m. show. The GOP gathering had to compete with the start of the NFL season.
Getting disengaged Trump voters to pay attention could continue to be a challenge, and there are questions about whether the party’s message will resonate with swing voters.
Polls shows Trump is struggling with independents and has lost support from voters in key demographics amid backlash to his aggressive second-term agenda. He offered voters the same essential pitch at the convention that he’s been making for months, delivering speeches full of familiar talking points.
Trump touted his economic record as surveys show many voters are anxious about prices. He dwelled on his White House ballroom project and efforts to rename waterways bordering countries he has clashed with. He emphasized his crackdown on immigrants without legal status and the big tax cut package he passed last year.
The high-wattage convention simply amplified it all as the parties rumble toward Election Day.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GOP boosts Trump show, socialism attacks at convention. 3 takeaways
