Dem
53
Ties
2
GOP
45
Donald Trump's midterm convention brainchild probably didn't have the effect it was supposed to have: helping Republicans, especially in Texas, where the convention was held. At least one Texas Republican, Ken Paxton, certainly doesn't think it did. Paxton was caught earlier this week on a hot mic saying: "So to be honest with you, the numbers—when we did that convention—it dropped our numbers. Everybody's numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good." This was in response to a question about whether the convention helped him.
Trump, of course, thinks different. His response to a question about the convention was: "I think the fact that we had such a successful convention really helped Ken Paxton. He was a big part of it." Pity Paxton doesn't think it was so great. The data suggest Paxton has the right of it. In the generic House poll (graph above), Democrats have expanded their lead since the convention. It wasn't supposed to work like that.
Part of the reason Paxton didn't gain anything from a convention in his home state is that during his speeches at the convention, Trump mocked Paxton multiple times. In fact, the President has continued to do that post convention. For example, Trump recently said: "Some people don't like the way he dresses. or some people don't like the way he interviews or talks." What is the point of denigrating your own candidate? How does this help the Republicans? Maybe Occam's razor applies here. Trump greatly values people who look good on television, and Paxton certainly does not. Maybe he doesn't like the fact that Paxton is even more corrupt than he is, and Trump wants to be the champion at everything. It makes no sense, but since when do Trump's (m)utterances make sense? (V)