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DALLAS — The speeches were hours from beginning, but Trump superfan Andra Griffin, 46, was already at the Texas arena where Republicans are holding their midterm convention.The Florida resident estimates she has attended nearly two dozen of Donald Trump’s rallies and says she wants the term-limited GOP leader to know his base is still here for him.Like other Trump supporters, though, Griffin is searching for direction. “Where do we go from here? What’s our next chapter?” she asked.Griffin says the field is “wide open" and anyone in Trump’s Cabinet “would have a good shot,” when it comes to 2028. She could see herself supporting fellow Floridian and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Maybe even Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.She’s inclined to support Vice President JD Vance, who’s delivering the Thursday night keynote. But for him to lock up her support, Griffin says she needs to hear a strong economic message. “I think that more money in people’s pockets make people happy – period.”Vance’s primetime address on Sept. 10 will provide the 42-year-old politician with one of his last best opportunities before the midterm election to convince skeptical MAGA voters he has the charisma and showmanship to lead the party into its next era.He will be addressing his largest crowd at the convention since he accepted his party’s nomination for vice president in 2024, with the GOP boasting a 20,000-person crowd of lawmakers, candidates, donors and the Republican Party faithful both evenings. The political stakes for Vance are high — both at the convention and over the next 54 days, a make or break stretch for the anticipated 2028 presidential candidate. As the party’s midterm messenger and finance guru, Vance’s political fortunes will be closely tied to the election's outcome.“If the midterms go well, swimmingly well, he will eliminate a lot of competition for 2028. Probably not all of it, but he'll eliminate a lot of it,” The FAMiLY Leader president and CEO Bob Vander Plaats told USA TODAY in an interview. “If the midterms do not go well, the door is completely wide open for a lot of competition. That doesn't mean he can't survive it.”The convention speech is a big opportunity for Vance to “speak to the party faithful,” Congressman Jimmy Patronis, R-Florida, said as he mingled in the hall outside the arena.“I think this is a real opportunity for JD to show, again, we’ve got two years of serving together, this is where I’m going to continue supporting the president’s message,” said Patronis who downplayed the idea that a bad midterm showing for the GOP would hurt Vance’s 2028 prospects.Democrats have made up so much ground in recent months that both the GOP-controlled House and the once safely-red Senate are now in play. An Emerson College survey commissioned by The Hill last month showed Republicans running eight points behind Democrats in the 2026 race on the generic congressional ballot, a measurement that’s often used to judge whether an election will produce a wave.Republicans believe that how much of the party’s base shows up will be the deciding factor in whether they retain control of the majority. They are all but begging infrequent GOP voters to go to the polls. They’re going all-in on a pro-Trump strategy in an election that could wind up being a referendum on him. Trump told convention attendees on Wednesday evening that they should just pretend he’s on the ballot. He also promised that if Republicans maintain control of the legislative branch he'll give every American adult $5,000.Trump will speak both nights of the convention, but it will largely be up to Vance to carry Thursday evening’s program. He’s expected to show up with red meat and hit on anti-fraud initiatives and democratic socialism. Vance is also expected to pay tribute to his close friend and youth organizer Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA co-founder who was assassinated while speaking at a college campus a year ago on Sept. 10.Turning Point is already preparing to help Vance with his anticipated presidential bid, promising to put its resources toward helping Vance win the Republican primary.Vance will need every advantage he can get. Recent surveys have shown Rubio gaining support, as Trump continues to withhold his endorsement.But they also show anecdotal evidence that Vance is proving himself to MAGA. A Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll on Sept. 2, showed Vance with 44% support among Republicans. Rubio trailed at 21%, near Donald Trump Jr., who had 18% support. No other candidate cracked 10%.In the same survey, 58% of Republicans said an appeal from Vance would encourage them to turnout in the midterms election, compared to 59% who said that of Trump.Rubio skips convention, but draws supportInside the midterm convention, Republicans said they’re undecided on who should be the 2028 Republican presidential nominee – stopping short of endorsing Vance and signaling they’re just as interested in a Rubio candidacy.“I’m still open minded,” said Steven Luna, who made the trip to Dallas from his home in Houston, where he works at the NASA Johnson Space Center. “When we get close, I’ll dive into it.”Asked who he’s thinking about as Trump’s heir apparent, Luna’s first answer wasn’t Vance. “Rubio,” he said. “But JD’s up there as well.”Still, he said he likes Vance’s personal story. “He seems to be a down-to-earth guy,” Luna said of the vice president, whose bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” about his working-class, Ohio, upbringing became a major motion picture. “Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. He seemed like he had to work his way. Same here. We’re all working just to survive.”Jim Walker, an 81-year-old fifth-generation cowboy from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border, came to the convention to support his son-in-law: Tano Tijerina, the Republican nominee challenging Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas.“I love Rubio,” Walker said when asked about 2028, before breaking into speaking Spanish to stress the secretary of state’s Cuban heritage. He believes it’s a strong suit for Rubio. “He’s Cubano, and his family, and that’s kind of a heart strings type of deal. I am on the border.”Walker said he’s still “learning” about Vance but commended him for “standing up” for second lady Usha Vance during a fight with Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who Vance ripped into for invoking his wife.“Both of them are super intelligent men,” Walker said of Vance and Rubio. “They have a reservoir of experience, and I just don’t know that much about Vance, and I’ve followed Rubio for a number of years, and I just admire him.” Rubio is in Latin America on official business and plans to skip the convention altogether. He’s indicated he would back Vance for president, if his former Senate colleague ran. But the top Trump aide who serves as secretary of state and national security adviser has not ruled out a presidential run. "Well, I don't know what the future holds, but I have no plans at this time," Rubio said in an interview during his trip to Colombia on Sept. 9. "I'm 100% focused on my jobs."Vance, the heir apparentJack Etheridge, a 75-year-old chemist from Columbus, Ohio, said he’s firmly behind Vance as the 2028 Republican nominee, although he admitted having a little hometown bias.“Let’s face it. Being in Ohio, I think the state is going to rally behind JD Vance," Etheridge, who wore a bright red blazer and brown cowboy hat, said as the convention got underway. “For people who are in my most immediate circle, JD Vance really is probably positioned most strongly.”Etheridge said he’s not concerned that Vance hasn’t cleared the Republican field, calling the vice president the “odds-on favorite.”“In almost every field or endeavor, competition makes everything better,” he said. “If we took the position that there shouldn’t be a competition for who a presidential nominee should be, how could we say that’s consistent with the standard of let’s compete?”Besides Rubio, who ran once before in 2016, Vander Plaats, of the socially conservative Iowa-based FAMiLY Leader, said Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, a former press secretary to Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who competed in 2024, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who ran in 2016, are being talked about by Republicans in his home state as potential options.Iowa will hold the first 2028 contest for Republicans.Cruz has made no secret of his own desire to seek the presidency again. Asked whether the party has coalesced around Vance, Cruz told MSNOW host Ali Vitali last month there would be a “full discussion” about the direction of the party after the midterms. “I’ll certainly be part of the discussion,” he said.As a Texas senator, Cruz is one of the few 2028 hopefuls, besides Vance, who’s being featured at the convention. He’ll also be speaking on Thursday, albeit in a much earlier time slot.Patronis, the Florida congressman, said the 2028 nomination is Vance’s to lose and the vice president is the “heir apparent” but is “going to have to earn it.” Potential challengers such Cruz, he said, are “hoping there’s some type of a slip up.”But, he said of the vice president, “I do not see, as accomplished and successful as he has been to date, him doing anything to disrupt the path that he’s got."
