It doesn’t need to happen, many are questioning why it is happening – and some Republicans are even refusing to turn up to it. But what’s been dubbed “Trumpapalooza” by a senior Republican is very much happening this week. And it’s going to be big. Obsessed with US politics? Download our new app and never miss a headlineAt the midterm Republican National Convention (RNC) on September 9-10, held in the sweltering heat of Dallas, the spotlight will very much be on Donald Trump. He will speak on both nights (late morning Thursday and Friday, Australia time) at the event’s hub at the American Airlines Centre, close to downtown Dallas, as well as at a separate stadium event. Expect the likes of JD Vance, Pete Hegseth and Robert F Kennedy Jr to take to the glitzy stage at the RNC to praise him, MAGA-leaning celebs to celebrate what they see as his achievements and scores of Republican Party members dressed up to the nines in all manner of Stars and Stripes or Trump-themed costumes. But a US election watcher has told news.com.au the very expensive jamboree will almost certainly be derided by critics as a “vanity project” instigated by Mr Trump while Americans grimace at record high late summer petrol prices and wonder when the Iran war will finish.Republicans, on the other hand, will be praying to the electoral gods that the RNC will be enough to stop a so-called “blue wave” by Democrats at November’s crucial midterm elections – so called because they are midway through a presidential cycle. All of the seats in the House of Representatives as well as a third of the seats in the Senate are up for grabs in November. The omens for the Republicans aren’t great: the party only has a slim majority in each house of Congress, historically the party in power almost always loses seats and Mr Trump’s popularity has sunk, particularly in swing states like Texas, where the convention is being held. If the Democrats can reassert some control in Congress, they can bung up Mr Trump’s agenda and possibly set up another impeachment process. Operation TrumpapaloozaBut Mr Trump has a plan. “There’s a theory that I get the vote,” he told Fox News last month.“I see it all the time: when Trump’s on the ballot, (the Republicans) win. When he’s out of the ballot, the people don’t go to vote.”Mr Trump is not on the ballot at the midterms – his name will be on no voting slips. Nonetheless, he believes if the election is all about him, the party will prosper.“President Trump thinks that he can activate voters who often do not turn out for midterm elections but have turned out for him in presidential elections,” Robert Rowland, a professor of political communications at the University of Kansas, told news.com.au.“He believes if he can focus the election on his leadership, that will help Republicans.”But Prof Rowland said Mr Trump may have other motivations.“President Trump always wants to be in the spotlight,” he said.Step forward then, to this week’s event. Republicans are calling the midterm RNC “historic”. That’s no boast. It is historic, because it’s a genuine first – a convention midway through a presidential term has never happened before. That’s because there’s no genuine reason for it to be happening at this time at all. Away from the pageantry and razzmatazz – somewhere between a top flight sports match and a religious service, all tied up with a red, white and blue patriotic bow – Democratic and Republican Party conventions exist for one reason only: for party delegates to pick a presidential candidate. And that’s not happening for two years. Rather, this is a two-day Republican rally, with the President at the centre of it all, dressed up as a convention. $55 million billHolding this US national convention – that doesn’t need to happen – won’t be cheap either. Dallas Police intend to bill the Republican Party $2.5 million for security costs alone. Some estimates have reported the two-day event could cost $55 million in total to stage. In some cases, individual delegates will have to find $28,000 or more to attend, although there are some free places. Some US TV networks, which would spend days covering the usual national conventions because of the key role they play in presidential elections, seem less enthused about this midterm event.‘Vanity project’ could backfireProf Rowland warned the whole event could backfire on Mr Trump.“All of the polling data indicates that the public’s biggest concerns are the economy and ending the war with Iran,” he said.“A staged convention does not address those issues and is likely to draw criticism from Democrats. It is just a vanity project not focused on the needs of people. “The focus on President Trump is likely to activate only the most fervent Trump supporters.”However, many Republican strategists believe if that’s the outcome, then so be it – that may be enough for the party to retain control of Congress. Sure, two days of incendiary speeches about immigration, ungrateful allies and trans people and sun-kissed images of Mr Trump’s ballroom and triumphal arch all coupled with huge dollops of adoration for the man himself may not convince many voters already sceptical of the President. But the audience for the event is MAGA, and getting them excited and voting is the point.Yet there are grumblings in the ranks that for the money being lavished on the RNC, it should be aiming to attract swing voters – not to persuade MAGA themselves to turn up at polling places. ‘Waste of time’: Republican no-showsPotentially, the fear is this RNC could even turn off some swing voters the party needs to vote for it. A significant number of Republicans have said they’re not going to attend. A survey by political news website Politico of 70 Republican candidates found more than half were not going to the RNC or were dillydallying. One of the most high profile no-shows will be Senator Susan Collins, who is fighting to keep her seat in the northern, not very MAGA, state of Maine. Reasons for no-shows include the cost to attend, other commitments and that time would be better spent campaigning in electorates – although one candidate told Politico the event was a “waste of time”. Democratic strategist Matt Corridoni told newspaperUSA Todaythat the convention had become a quandary for Republicans, who were looking to get elected in regions that are less MAGA and more centrist. “Do you literally and figuratively hug (Mr Trump) on stage and associate yourself with gas prices and the war in Iran? Or do you distance yourself and risk him telling his base not to show up for you?”Republicans shunning Trumpapalooza “demonstrates the vice-like hold Trump has on the Republican Party may be slipping”, said Prof Rowland. That’s not to say that some winds are not blowing in the Republicans and Mr Trump’s favour. The Democrats run the danger of being overconfident in victory, running a lacklustre campaign and then underperforming. Polls show many Americans remain unenthused by the Democratic Party, while the party’s internal lurching between centrist and Democratic socialist candidates looks muddled and has enabled the Republicans to resurrect the claim the opposition party is all “communists”. The RNC will be a spectacle. Those Republicans who turn up to Dallas will almost certainly scream and holler for Mr Trump. Bathing in the warm embrace of glory as it echoes around the arena may well seem like a huge success for the President. But Prof Rowland suspected parts of the party are worried about the optics. “Absent good economic news or successful conclusion of the war in Iran, it’s hard to see how the RNC can either help Mr Trump’s image or the electoral prospects of the Republicans in the midterms,” he said.