WASHINGTON (UNITED STATES) (ITALPRESS) – Pretend that I am on the tab. From the stage of the Republican convention in Dallas, Texas, President Donald Trump once again puts himself at the center of the campaign for the mid-term elections of November 3, asking voters to consider voting for Republican candidates as a vote on his presidency and political agenda. This is the central message Trump wanted to address to the Republican audience on the first day of an organized convention just in view of the November elections. ‘I want you to come out and vote’, said the president, insisting on the need to maintain Republican control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Pretend that I am on the tab, Trump repeated, explaining the logic of the strategy chosen for the next elections: turning midterms into a referendum on his presidency, although his name will not appear on the tabs. The president argued that his political presence was decisive to mobilize Republican voters and bring them to the polls.
Trump then made the budget of his second term on the Dallas stage, presenting the United States as a growing country. “We are going better now, as a country, than we have ever gone before,” he said, also underlining the amount of investments that, in his opinion, are coming to the United States. ‘Investments in our country are the biggest in the history of any country, not only in our country,’ he said.
The President insisted in particular on the economic policies of his administration, claiming the fiscal measures approved by the Congress and presenting them as one of the central elements of the Republican program. Trump underlined the tax benefits introduced for tips, overtime and social benefits, claiming that his administration has kept the promises made to voters. ‘We have done things that have never been done, neither in the first term nor, frankly, in the second term of any president’, Trump said, describing the American economy as ‘very strong’ and claiming that in the United States there are unprecedented industrial investments.
The president then moved the confrontation on the political ground, attacking the Democrats hard. ‘If we deliver America’s future to the Democrats of the radical left, our nation will pass the next decade only to try to stand up. It will be a tragedy, Trump said, inviting voters to support Republican candidates. “Go Republican and leave the world in dust for generations,” he added.
The contrast with the Democrats was one of the recurring themes of the intervention. Trump presented the vote on 3 November as a choice between the continuation of his America First policy and the return to power of the Democrats, accused of wanting to question the policies adopted by the White House. Among the central themes of the republican message is immigration. Trump has claimed the strengthening of controls on the southern border and the campaign of expulsions of irregular immigrants, presenting security of borders as one of the main results of his second term.
The president has linked this issue to that of crime and internal security, claiming that his administration has brought more order in the country. Trump also insisted on the need to keep control of the two Chambers of Congress in order to carry out its own program. A possible democratic victory, according to the line outlined by the President, would risk blocking or slowing down the White House’s policies in the second half of the mandate.
The Dallas convention is a political bet. The Republican Party has chosen to focus on Trump’s ability to mobilize its base, transforming the president into the main protagonist of the campaign for a formally nominated election.
Trump openly explained this strategy even before arriving in Texas: ‘There is a theory that I take the vote. I see it all the time: when Trump is on the board, they win. When it’s not on the tab, people don’t vote.” Hence the request for voters to behave, next November 3, as if its name was actually present on the tabs.
The president also faced one of the most delicate themes of the campaign: war with Iran and the consequences on the American economy. The increase in the price of oil, returned over $100 per barrel, is likely to further feed the cost of petrol and inflationary pressures.
Trump tried to reassure Americans by claiming that the energy emergency will be temporary. ‘For a while’, he said referring to the effects on prices, but adding that ‘subito after the elections, oil prices will collapse’. The President therefore indicated a particularly ambitious goal for gasoline: ‘I think we’ll be able to bring it under $2 a gallon.’ The crisis with Tehran was also linked by Trump to the nuclear issue. ‘Will you let Iran have a nuclear weapon?’, he asked, claiming that the United States cannot allow this to happen.
The president described the Iranian internal situation in extremely negative terms, stating that ‘their country is debating’ and referring to the very serious economic situation and the devaluation of currency. Trump also admitted that the conflict could last until after the elections. Before leaving for Dallas, he said that ‘it will take a little longer than the middle-term elections’, claiming that Tehran would be interested in reaching the vote and once again linking the international issue to the November electoral challenge. The war with Iran is also one of the main risk elements for the Republicans. The increase in energy costs could in fact weigh on American families just as the president tries to convince voters that his administration is improving the economic conditions of the country.
This is one of the paradoxes of the Republican strategy: Trump remains the main motor of the mobilization of the base, but its dominant presence can be a difficulty in the most competitive colleges and states, where Republican candidates must also conquer independent and moderate voters.
In Dallas, however, the president has chosen without hesitation to assume in person the political responsibility of the campaign. Pretend that I am on the card so became the symbolic message of the convention. Trump will not be no candidate in the November elections, but he wants his name, his agenda and the budget of his second term to be the main criterion by which the Americans will choose their representatives at Congress.
On November 3, it will be a decisive test for the second Trump presidency. The Republicans aim to preserve control of the Chamber and the Senate; the Democrats will try to regain at least one of the two Chambers by turning Trump into the main target of their campaign.
The challenge for the president will be to transform his capacity for mobilization into actual votes, while at the same time convincing voters on the issues that today weigh more on their choices: economy, cost of life, security, immigration and consequences of war with Iran. In Dallas Trump already indicated his answer: ask the Americans to vote for the Republicans as if his name was also on the card.
– Photo Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS)
(ITALPRESS)
