The political world’s eyes are focused this week on Dallas, where Republicans are turning up the volume at a two-day convention meant to bolster the GOP’s chances in this year’s midterms.
The event is being billed as a unifying and electrifying celebration of President Trump’s second term in office that is being put on by the Republican National Committee. The GOP hopes it will raise money for candidates and help the party turn out voters in the fall.
But plenty of Republican lawmakers, particularly those in battleground districts — and even some Texas incumbents — appear to be worried about the focus on Trump, whose approval ratings are low.
A number say they will not be able to make it or were noncommittal about their attendance. Republicans also will be fighting for public attention with the opening games of the NFL regular season.
Some Democrats will stage specific counterprogramming in Dallas. Others will conduct business as usual on the campaign trail around the country.
The nation will pause to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on Friday, a quarter century after planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. A fourth plane crashed near Shanksville, Pa.
Back on the campaign trail, two northern states will hold primaries, New Hampshire on Tuesday and Rhode Island on Wednesday. Only one more state, Delaware, is left before the primary season is over and the race to the general election begins nationwide.
All of this leads up to a blitz of a week in Congress, when both chambers are briefly in Washington for the last time before Election Day. The Senate will remain in session through Oct. 2, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) canceled the House’s last two weeks as members are eager to campaign back home.
