There was a time, not too long ago, when Republicans would be totally stoked to gather together and enjoy some classic Donald Trump rally rants. They’d pop on their MAGA hats, listen to some Lee Greenwood jams, and cheer as the president talked about how great he is and lashed out at the “Dumocrats.”

Now the first-ever Republican midterm convention is imminent. The party is set to gather at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on September 9 and 10. President Trump will appear both nights and has promised this will be “THE GREATEST RALLY OF THEM ALL.” Yet judging from the morose and catty comments GOP officials and operatives have made in recent days, it seems they’re not looking forward to it. Some fear the whole thing could backfire, making the GOP’s midterm prospects even dimmer.

Here’s a roundup of the Republicans’ major gripes about the GOP’s midterm convention.

1. It’s largely pointless.

Theoretically, the point of the usual party conventions held every four years is to nominate a presidential candidate. Some have argued we should do away with this relic of a bygone era because the nomination is no longer settled on the convention floor. But it’s still an opportunity to rally around the nominee and introduce them to the voters.

The reason for holding an unprecedented midterm convention is even less clear. When the plan was announced a year ago, it seemed Republicans might have wanted Trump to make a high-profile pitch to voters since a president’s party almost always loses seats in the midterms.

Now, Trump is so unpopular that Republicans aren’t sure they want to be parading him before swing voters. But as our own Ed Kilgore explained, things are so bad the party is just worried about mobilizing the MAGA base:

Based on the poor results of the 2018 midterms and special elections for years now, Republican strategists are convinced that they need to functionally place Trump on the ballot to turn out his base. That this will also have a baleful effect on swing voters is considered beside the point: Without an energized MAGA base, Republicans won’t even be in the vicinity of victory. And so they are making a virtue of necessity with the biggest, loudest, most abrasive Trump rally one could imagine, while hoping that swing voters can be convinced to climb aboard or at least stay home by a savage crusade of lies about a Bolshevik takeover of the opposition party.

Based on the poor results of the 2018 midterms and special elections for years now, Republican strategists are convinced that they need........

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