Trump brings his PT Barnum act to Dallas

Trump brings his PT Barnum act to Dallas Trump may be the Republican Party’s greatest showman. But, Eric Garcia writes, his three-ring spectacle risks burning the party to a crisp - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Welcome to the 2026 Republican midterm convention. Like everything else in the past two years, this is President Donald Trump’s latest scheme to defy history and hold onto the Republican majorities in the House and the Senate. And he’s made Texas the place where he will make his last stand. He’s poured money into the its Senate race to save his preferred candidate, Ken Paxton. He cajoled Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas legislature to redraw the congressional map to give Republicans five additional seats. If politics is a circus, Trump is doing his best PT Barnum impersonation — only instead of taming a lion, he’s trying to convince a herd of elephants that it’s OK to be dissatisfied with the economy, the price of gas and the costs of nearly everything else so long as Democrats don’t gain control of Congress. But in the home of the Dallas Cowboys over the next two nights, Trump is attempting an even bigger Hail Mary by using the never-before-heard-of midterm convention to tout his legislative accomplishments, no matter how thin and unpopular they may be, to the American public. And to top it off, Trump announced on Wednesday that he would speak not only on Thursday to close out the bash, but also tonight. It’s a big contrast for how presidents and their parties typically go about midterms. Historically, members of the president’s party try to create as much distance from the White House as possible, display their independence and appeal to swing voters to make the case. And Trump, at 80, is unique in his unpopularity. On Wednesday, an Economist/YouGov poll showed that 42 percent of voters plan to go for the Democratic candidate for Congress compared to 35 percent who plan to vote for the Republican. And only 37 percent of voters approve of Trump’s performance as president. Piling on that, 57 percent of voters without a college degree disapprove of the president. This might be why for the most part, Republicans in tough House races are avoiding the Dallas convention. Of the candidates in the 37 races that the Cook Political Report rates as either “Lean Democratic,” “Lean Republican” or “Toss-up,” only 10 challengers are speaking at the convention and only six incumbents in battleground races are showing. Curiously, Rep. Mike Lawler of New York’s 17th district is the only Republican from a district that voted for Kamala Harris who will speak and many of the incumbent Republicans speaking — such as Reps. Anna Paulina Luna in Florida’s 13th district and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin’s 3rd district — have underperformed Trump. But this lays out the central problem for Republicans across the country: As the GOP increasingly becomes the party of non-college-educated voters, it also loses its ability to turn out voters in non-presidential elections. Trump typically solves this problem by getting low-trust and low-turnout voters to pull the lever for him, but not for anyone else. As a result, a Trump pep rally might motivate some MAGA voters to turn out in November. But that means they risk losing independents, with whom Trump has only a 25-percent approval rating. This poses another problem for the GOP: historically, political conventions have formal duties such as nominating candidates and the opportunity to showcase new talent. With the exception of a few candidates, this will be the Trump show. And Trump has even found a way to bigfoot Vice President JD Vance, his would-be heir to MAGA. Instead of setting him up to give the closing speech on the first night, Trump will overshadow his No. 2 just as Vance gets ready to kick the tires on a 2028 presidential run. All of this the reminds the GOP that when it comes to the state of the party, Trump has adopted the same approach as WWE legend and Texan, Stone Cold Steve Austin: Arrive, Raise Hell, Leave. He has made it impossible for anyone to outshine him. But by making this octogenarian with awful numbers the center of the Republican orbit, the party risks burning their most vulnerable members to a crisp. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments