Trump’s Dallas 'Hail Mary' only highlights the GOP’s biggest problem

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a campaign rally for U.S. Senator Darline Graham (R-SC) at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S., August 21, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

The Republican Party is putting all of its money on the idea that President Donald Trump's "celebrity" can save it from failure in the 2026 midterm elections.

The Dallas Morning News reported on Monday that the Republican Party this week is coming to the blue Texas city for a two-night convention that is a final "Hail Mary" for the GOP to reverse the slide predicted for the party in the upcoming election, said Washington correspondent Dirk Hautkapp at the German newspaper The Berliner Morgenpost. Like in American football, he said that the move is a high-risk political gamble aimed at reviving the GOP’s midterm prospects.

"A desperate political stunt with television, floodlights, flags and a whole lot of Donald Trump," he wrote, according to a translated version of the column.

The idea came from Trump last November when he demanded a mid-term convention.

“That’s not a thing,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) explained to him. After all, conventions have a purpose: to nominate a presidential candidate for a party from delegates of every state. In a year without a presidential candidate, there isn't any real purpose. But Trump wanted a convention and the free media coverage he thinks he'll get from it.

“Make it a thing,” Trump demanded.

“It’s really unprecedented,” University of Texas, Dallas political science professor and researcher Thomas Gray told Houston Public Media. “That they’re doing this unusual, seemingly kind of risky or innovative thing kind of implies that the Republican Party feels on the back foot, and that they maybe need to try to do something different than the usual to make up for the sort of disadvantage that they see in the polling.”

As the report explained, the GOP organizers hope to portray the midterm election as a referendum on the president, even though Trump will not appear on the ballot. Oddly, it's the same message that Democrats are pushing too. The Republican president is much more unpopular than many of his congressional counterparts, a CNN data analyst reported last month.

Politico reported that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico is planning on using the GOP convention for a mobilization effort that will both help people and reinforce the message about the affordability crisis. The seminarian will host a statewide "Love Thy Neighbor" food drive that will help contrast the GOP's lavish spending and high ticket costs with the affordability crisis.

“Next week, billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians will gather at a convention in Dallas to clink champagne glasses and toast their own corruption. They’re paying $20,000 for entry to a Billionaire Ball celebrating corrupt tariffs, billionaire tax breaks, and a new forever war that are all driving grocery costs through the roof,” Talarico told Politico in a statement last week.

The Dallas Morning News said that the city estimates it will spend roughly $2.5 million on security and related services, and organizers complained that the city's taxpayers shouldn't be forced to bear most of the cost.

As Tuscon.com explained, the GOP runs the risk of making a bigger link between Republicans and Trump at a time they're desperately trying to distance themselves from him. It's one of many reasons that GOP candidates are skipping the event, the New York Times reported.

“One of the problems that the party is having right now is the president’s approval rating is not good,” said GOP strategist Charlie Black. “So the more candidates can get the voters to focus on them and the issues that they’re promoting, and less on the president, the better in most states and most districts.”

Traditionally, the president's party loses seats in the midterms, but this year is setting up to be far worse than previous years with approval for Trump and the GOP at record lows.

Republicans skipping the event have said that there's a fear the president will continue his "affordability is a hoax" messaging, which claims all is well in the economy while people are suffering. In fact, even the First Lady isn't expected to attend. Trump loyalists, however, think that his presence is essential for bringing out the MAGA base.

“The president’s going to look right into the camera and say ‘I am on the ballot,’” Speaker Johnson said. “Because even though his name isn’t, his administration, his legacy, the America First agenda is. We’ve got to get people to turn out.”

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