Democratic strategist James Carville speculated Tuesday that President Trump wants his party to lose the midterms. “The only answer that I can come up [with] that explains the current behavior of Donald Trump is simply this: He wants the Republicans to lose. He hates them.
Page A2From§Eachthe late evening edition — 8 September 2026
GOP's first-ever unity convention for Trump loses its own candidates to their home districts.
As it ran on the front
Unified party, packed arena. That is the official line out of Dallas this week, and today it's my job to say it with a straight face, so let's start with the fact underneath it: the Republican National Committee is holding a midterm convention for the first time in its history, two days, six hours a session, President Trump and Vice President Vance topping a speaking order the RNC itself printed on Tuesday. The stated purpose, as reported, is to brand Democrats as socialists on a national stage and rally a nervous party around the man leading the ticket into November.
The arena is packed, I'm told — well. The word actually attached to this event, even in friendly coverage, is concern: concern about low attendance, concern about timing, concern about a nickname the party didn't pick for itself, "Trump-a-Palooza," landing on a room some of the people it was built to showcase are declining to enter. Senator Susan Collins, running in a competitive race in Maine, won't be there; a source familiar with the situation says it has long been her practice not to attend conventions at all. Senate Majority Leader John Thune isn't speaking either — one of the party's most notable national leaders, absent from the list the RNC put out itself.…
…(cont) That's the unity rally: built to rally the party around the president, and the sitting Senate Majority Leader isn't on the program for it. CBS reports he's not alone — Republicans in other competitive races are choosing to skip Dallas entirely and campaign instead in their own districts and states, the ones they actually have to win in November. The fundraising side of the operation is intact regardless — a slew of events lined up to grow a cash advantage the party already holds, because that part doesn't require anyone to RSVP.
I was going to call the Collins absence a scheduling conflict. It isn't. She doesn't attend conventions, period; the calendar had nothing to do with it, and neither, I should say, does anything else about this week's guest list, which is its own kind of answer. This is the White House delivering on a promise: chief of staff Susie Wiles said, almost a year ago, that Trump's political operation would put him on the ballot in 2026, and this week in Dallas is that promise arriving on schedule. What showed up instead, in the seats that matter, is a group of candidates who read the same polling everyone else has and decided the safest place to campaign this week is somewhere else.
“They rented an arena to call the other side socialists, and their own candidates in the tight races won't set foot in it — that tells you which brand is actually radioactive right now. Susan Collins doesn't need a poll to figure that out; she just needs votes in Maine come November. When the party built to sell you fear of the other guy can't get its own people to stand next to the guy at the top of the ticket, that's the whole racket, right there.”
“Look, every credentialed Republican got an invitation, that's a full house by any honest definition — invited, attending, fine, those aren't the same word, I'll give you that, but scheduling conflicts happen in politics, that's just — okay, the Senate Majority Leader not speaking at his own party's flagship event isn't a scheduling conflict, I hear how that sounds. But the fundraising is real and the cash advantage is real, and if a few battleground candidates would rather shake hands at home than stand behind the President this week, that's just good campaigning, that's not a message about him at all.”
The receipts
President Donald Trump and the White House are delivering on another promise: To make November’s midterm elections about him. This week’s Republican midterm convention, dubbed “Trumpapalooza,” comes almost a year after White House chief of staff Susie Wiles promised Trump and his political apparatus would put the president “on the ballot”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is among the Republican Party’s most notable national leaders not delivering a speech at the first-ever midterm convention in Texas later this week. The Republican National Committee has released the full list of keynote speakers for the party’s convention. Unlike his House counterpart, Thune was…
President Trump and top GOP leaders are gathering in Dallas for a midterm convention, though some Republicans in competitive races are opting to skip it and campaign in their home districts or states.
The two-day gathering — nicknamed “Trump-a-Palooza” — offers free publicity for Republicans as they attempt to brand Democrats as "socialists" and features a slew of fundraising events to help the party grow its already large cash advantage to beat back bleak polls pointing to a possible November wipeout.
As Republicans face down tough midterm elections, President Trump has appeared out of step with the party on Iran, the economy and other issues.
The Republican National Committee on Tuesday released the full list of speakers slated to deliver remarks at its first-ever midterm convention to be held in Dallas on Wednesday and Thursday. The event is set to take place over two nights and will feature President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance as keynote speakers. Each day…
· Some Republicans are planning to skip Trump’s GOP convention from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Susan Collins to skip Republican midterm convention from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Democrats seek to counter RNC's 'Trump-a-palooza' convention in Dallas from the morgue, 5 Sep 2026
· Ty Cobb on midterms: Trump intends 'to steal these elections where possible' from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.