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Donald Trump at a November 2024 campaign rally<\/span>Matt Rourke\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Republican politicians<\/span> are heading to Texas next week\u2014some of them, anyway. At Donald Trump\u2019s behest, the party is holding a special midterm convention in Dallas to celebrate what the president calls \u201cour Tremendous Victories and Success.\u201d On Saturday, he once again hyped the event, writing<\/a> on Truth Social: \u201cThe Greatest RALLY of them all! I\u2019ll be speaking on night one, and hanging around for an earlier closing, and lots of music, on night two!!! See you in Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, despite his record-low approval ratings, Trump has determined that the midterms must be about him and a referendum on his second presidency\u2014even as GOP lawmakers have made it clear that they desperately do not want that to be the case.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s poll numbers have sagged as the midterms approach, due in large part to the unpopularity of the war in Iran and the cost of consumer goods; that\u2019s true even among Republican voters<\/a>. And that\u2019s presumably why many GOP lawmakers and candidates would rather not hold a big party celebrating the success of the administration and tying themselves to it just before voters head to the polls. But, as the New York Times <\/em>recently noted, they also \u201ccannot afford to snub<\/a>\u201d Trump, or, as a person identified as a \u201ctop Republican campaign official\u201d told Axios, \u201cWe have no choice<\/a>. We\u2019re stuck on the boat with him whether we like it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n For his part, as is his wont, Trump seems convinced that having a rally where he\u2019s a keynote speaker will solve everything. While many Republican candidates are reportedly<\/a> skipping the Dallas convention, plenty will be attending. On Saturday, the Republican National Committee released a list of speakers<\/a> for the Dallas event, heavily featuring Trump\u2019s own family and current cabinet, including Vice President JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr., HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, among others. In the release, the RNC also articulated what\u2019s meant to be a unifying message for the proceedings, declaring, \u201cRepublicans represent the mainstream, practical values of everyday Americans, while the modern Democrat Party has embraced a fringe, extremely liberal ideological agenda that harms Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n Even one attendee struck a rather non-psyched note on the matter. On Sunday, CNN\u2019s Dana Bash asked Rep. Mike Lawler\u2014a New York Republican facing a competitive reelection battle\u2014about his decision to speak at Trump\u2019s convention and align himself \u201cso closely with the president.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a function of alignment\u201d with Trump, Lawler responded, but rather \u201ca function of doing the job. In order to get anything done, you have to be able to reach across the aisle, and also work within your own party.\u201d<\/p>\n