Republican event in Texas: noise of fear, hatred and empty stands

dpa/taz | At the end of the party conference, US President Donald Trump asked the crowd to repeat after him: “We swear that we will go out and vote on November 3rd,” he tells them. His followers obey - and laugh.

It is the first Republican party conference before the midterm elections in the USA - and the event in Dallas, Texas, ends in a relaxed atmosphere. But the hot phase of the election campaign has begun. What did the convention show about the Republican strategy? And what problems lie before the presidential party just two months before the important midterms?

The walls of the huge event hall, which were decorated countless times with Trump pictures, were symbolic of the core message that the 80-year-old had with him for his supporters: the midterm elections should revolve around him. “Please act as if I were running for office,” the president asks repeatedly.

It is an attempt to mobilize his supporters to vote even if he himself is not actually on the ballot. The country is divided like perhaps never before. And polls have recently shown that Democrats have been more motivated to vote than Republicans.

The US President's attempt to change this by getting prominently involved in the election campaign is politically risky: the majority of people in the country have been dissatisfied with Trump for a long time. If Republican candidates support him in the run-up to the midterm elections, they run the risk of being held partly responsible for his policies.

In addition to the charisma of their president, the Republicans in Dallas rely primarily on one tool for mobilization: fear. Speaker after speaker sketched a bleak picture of the future of their country should the political opposition be successful in the congressional elections. Today's Democrats - so the argument goes - are no longer just representatives of left-liberal politics. They are “radical”, “crazy”, “communists”.

The Republicans repeatedly attack left-wing Democrats who achieved success in internal party primaries before the midterm elections. The message to your own base: Go vote in the midterms, it's about nothing less than the future of the USA as a free and safe country.

On November 3rd, Americans will re-elect around a third of the Senate representatives and the entire House of Representatives. There is a lot at stake for Trump and the Republicans: If they lose their slim majority in even one of the two chambers of parliament, they will have to expect significantly more resistance to Trump's policies. Voters usually use the midterms to settle scores with the president's party.

The fact that things are slipping for the Republicans is also shown by their unusual methods: every adult US citizen should receive $5,000 if the Republicans maintain their majorities in both chambers, Trump promised. The proposal would cost over $1 trillion, about as much as the entire U.S. defense budget. This is neither politically nor financially realistic.

It is also noteworthy that the Republicans wanted to help a Texan of all people with their party conference in Dallas: Trump candidate Ken Paxton wants to enter the Senate; in the former Republican stronghold of Texas, his victory would normally actually be a formality. But Democrats are hoping to take the seat from Trump's party. If their candidate, James Talarico, wins, he would be the first Democratic senator from Texas in more than three decades.

In terms of content, the Republicans want to set accents in domestic policy, but the conflicts in the world are currently escalating again - and that doesn't benefit Trump. In the middle of the election campaign, he now admitted: The Iran war will probably only end after the midterms. After the attacks on oil tankers, oil prices rose to their highest level in almost four months. Just on the second day of the Republican National Convention, the national average price of diesel in the United States reached a record high of $6.00 per gallon (3.785 liters). According to data from the market analysis portal Gasbuddy, fuel was more expensive than ever before.

Added to this is the customs conflict with Canada, which has escalated further in the past few days. States in the north of the USA in particular live from trade with neighboring countries. Trump's aggressive tariff policy is increasingly putting Republican candidates there in trouble.

Nevertheless, numerous Republicans gathered at the party conference wearing Trump caps and shirts who continue to praise the president's policies in the highest tones. Almost as if at the push of a button, they burst into cheers whenever Trump or other Republicans praised his agenda on stage. The party conference was a “huge, sold-out success,” Trump enthused after the first day on his Truth Social platform.

In fact, numerous stands remained empty, especially on the first day of the event. Some Republicans made a conscious decision not to participate and instead continued campaigning in their districts or states. To what extent they wanted to keep their distance from Trump can in many cases only be speculated.

There was also speculation at the party conference about what the future of the party might look like after Trump. US Vice President J. D. Vance once again came into focus as the keynote speaker on the second day. “48” – that was what echoed from the crowd as he stood on stage. A reference to the next President of the USA, who will be the 48th.