‘Energiser’ or ‘circus’: US voters weigh in on Trump’s midterm convention

Dallas, Texas – At a farmers market, 58-year-old Cody Johnson said he still believed in United States President Donald Trump’s ability to energise voters.

That belief serves as a cornerstone of the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention, a first-of-its-kind event intended to mobilise voters ahead of the legislative elections in November, albeit in a particularly Trump-dominated fashion.

Although the president, whose approval rating has dipped in recent months, will not be on the ballot, he has loomed large over the race.

“People will come from miles around [to see Trump],” said Johnson, a Republican voter and rock quarry owner.

He argued that the convention, hastily announced by Trump in June, could provide the bump needed to ward off a liberal surge in Texas, led by Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico , and maintain the decades-long conservative hold on statewide office.

“Texas is leaning purple,” he said. “This will definitely help… Trump can energise a voter”.

Walking her dog in a park in downtown Dallas, Shania Spears, who described herself as a policy-over-party voter, took a different view.

The 29-year-old marketing specialist for a tech company wondered how the convention would effectively address state voters’ growing discontent with Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s leadership and Trump’s second term.