{"id":8528,"date":"2026-09-10T08:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T08:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8528"},"modified":"2026-09-10T08:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T08:36:13","slug":"trump-alone-cant-save-the-gop-from-a-midterm-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8528","title":{"rendered":"Trump alone can’t save the GOP from a midterm disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The one thing that Democrats, their media allies and Donald Trump all seem to agree about with a little less than eight weeks to go until the 2026 midterms?<\/p>\n

Read more Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon who quit AI role over fears of racing into extinction says people are \u2018begging\u2019 for regulation<\/a><\/p>\n

That the president ought to play a starring role in them. <\/p>\n

Trump addressed the crowd assembled for the Republican National Committee\u2019s unconventional convention in Dallas on Wednesday night with photographs of himself \u2014 Trump signing autographs, Trump speaking at conventions past, Trump boarding Air Force One, Trump in a cowboy hat \u2014 lining the halls of the American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n

And why not? The logic behind this peculiar gathering is that if he can turn out his base for the midterms as if he were on the ballot, the widely-anticipated Blue Wave threatening to make a mess of his final two years in the White House might be killed in its cradle.<\/p>\n

Trump has a unique ability to turn out otherwise low-propensity voters who would crawl over broken glass to support him.<\/p>\n

From behind his office\u2019s seal in Texas, Trump pushed all of his chips behind this theory in a performance reminiscent of his high-energy, always hilarious 2016 campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m on the ticket, Republicans always do well!\u201d he declared gleefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m asking you to pretend I\u2019m on the ballot \u2014 I\u2019m on the ballot! Just one more time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He punctuated an observation about the founders lighting \u201cthe immortal flame of American liberty\u201d with a boast about winning Texas \u201cthree times in massive landslides.\u201d<\/p>\n

He asked Americans to let his administration \u201cfinish the job we began with the greatest two years in the history of the presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n

He posited that the country might not exist had he not prevailed in 2024.<\/p>\n

He offered a grave warning about the \u201ccrazy, little, sick cloud\u201d of communism hanging over America.<\/p>\n

He poked fun at the looks, speaking style and wardrobe of his handpicked Lone Star State Senate candidate, Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n

He credited John Cornyn, the incumbent Paxton successfully primaried, with helping secure the southern border. <\/p>\n

He hailed the \u201cGulf of America\u201d and \u201cLake America\u201d before suggesting he might rename New Mexico\u2026 well, you guessed it.<\/p>\n

And he broke the Fourth Wall more than a few times to let the audience in on a little secret: he was there on Wednesday \u201cto have a little bit of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was vintage Trump, and the act is both familiar and beloved; the MAGA faithful received his message rapturously.<\/p>\n

Read more NYC daredevil dances, jumps on flatbed truck as it speeds across George Washington Bridge, wild video shows<\/a><\/p>\n

But Democrats, too, hope that the results two months from now are a referendum on his administration.<\/p>\n

To put things in perspective: Cook Political Report namesake Charlie Cook recently summed up the state of the race by observing that the president is \u201cradioactive with independent voters,\u201d and predicting that Democrats will \u201cdo better than they have in generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politico\u2019s Dasha Burns piled on Wednesday morning, hours before Trump was set to take the stage, by reporting that one Republican lobbyist had described the \u201cvibes\u201d in Dallas as \u201cvery bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDems are salivating,\u201d fretted the pessimist. \u201cOur people are debating Israel. Or melting down about this or that. No one is motivated to vote. Only the DSA rise is what\u2019s keeping us in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

No such despair was detectable as Trump delivered his remarks, which functioned largely as a recitation of his accomplishments \u2014 both objective and dubious.<\/p>\n

But the sunny state of affairs he described is not the one recognized by a majority of voters, who continue to express a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the economy.<\/p>\n

They resented being told Bidenomics was working, and they resent being told all is well now.<\/p>\n

So while the president is right about the need to turn out every last one of his followers if the GOP is to avoid a wipeout this fall, anyone laboring under the misimpression that that\u2019s sufficient as well as necessary is in for a rude awakening.<\/p>\n

Because Democrats, too, are right that if the election is about Trump and Trump alone, they\u2019re poised for a resounding victory.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Besides promising to reward every American with a $5,000 dividend if Republicans hold on to the House in a thinly-disguised bribe, the president offered little in the way of a positive, forward-looking agenda for the next two years.<\/p>\n

In fact, almost no one did all day long in Dallas. <\/p>\n

With an unhappy electorate preparing to head to the polls, that dog just won\u2019t hunt.<\/p>\n

To win, Republicans must tell a story about not just the past, but the future.<\/p>\n

Because the thing about playing the hits over and over again is that, after a while, they just don\u2019t hit as hard.<\/p>\n

Read more Historic NJ amusement park permanently\u00a0closes, owners seek buyer: \u2018Meant so much\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump urged RNC convention-goers in Dallas to vote in the 2026 midterms as if he were on the ballot to help the GOP avoid a disaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump alone can't save the GOP from a midterm disaster - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8528\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump alone can't save the GOP from a midterm disaster - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Donald Trump urged RNC convention-goers in Dallas to vote in the 2026 midterms as if he were on the ballot to help the GOP avoid a disaster.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8528\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-10T08:36:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8528#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8528\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Trump alone can’t save the GOP from a midterm disaster\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-10T08:36:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8528\"},\"wordCount\":833,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8528#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/b27ab1cf6a1cc9661d494961e49e5fd9.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8528#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8528\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=8528\",\"name\":\"Trump alone can't save the GOP from a midterm disaster - 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