Dallas: A Republican TV advertisement played on the big screen at the party’s midterm convention cast the upcoming election in stark, simple terms.“This is no longer simply Republican versus Democrat, or conservative versus liberal,” the baritone voiceover boomed. “Today the choice is unmistakable: extreme versus mainstream.”That will be the crux of the GOP message for the next seven or so weeks: radical, America-hating communists have taken over the Democratic Party, and the only salvation is Donald Trump and his sensible Republicans.Attendees celebrate at the conclusion of the Republicans’ midterm convention in Dallas.BloombergVice President JD Vance leant into that framing when he took centre stage on Thursday night (US time) in Dallas, with a speech that was largely dedicated to attacking Democrats and spent little time on Republican achievements or promises for the future.He did not mention Trump’s extraordinary offer the previous evening – which Trump repeated on Thursday – of giving every American adult a $US5000 ($7000) “Trump Dividend” if the Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in November.Rather, Vance focused on portraying the Democrats as “the party of hatred”. Like many of the speakers over the preceding five hours, the vice president targeted specific people, such as Senate candidate for Michigan Abdul El-Sayed, and Senate candidate for Texas James Talarico, whom Trump has branded “Tala-freako”.Talarico has been a strong advocate for transgender people, including student athletes, though he has recently moderated some of his positions.Vance accused Talarico of being “obsessed with trans children” and even went as far as to imply, baselessly, that Talarico was a paedophile. “I don’t know about you, but I never want to see that guy’s web browser history,” he said.In normal times, a vice president might be expected to get his hands a little dirty during an election campaign: throwing bombs on behalf of a president who would rather stay a bit above the fray.Vice President JD Vance made it personal as he attacked Democrats for being a party of “hard-core hatred”.BloombergTrump, obviously, does not mind insulting his opponents. Vance, by following suit, is showing that he too can deal in the kind of ugly, personal mud-slinging that Trump’s loyal audiences have delighted in for years.Indeed, Vance’s most successful moment came when he was heckled by a protester in the stands waving the Mexican and Palestinian flags. The man was booed by the crowd (a person sitting near this correspondent shouted: “F--- Palestine”) and quickly escorted out by security.But Vance pounced. “My friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there – I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” he said to roars of applause and a lengthy “USA” chant.Vance chuckled and added that this was the symbol of the far-left: “An idiot waving a Mexican flag, when he should be waving the flag of the United States of America.” The room went wild again.The vice president was also visibly angry when he brought up a taunt El-Sayed made about his wife, Usha, on social media. The Democrat had queried whether Vance would have been willing to introduce Usha, who is of Indian heritage, to his late grandfather, a white steelworker from Appalachia.For Vance, it was beyond the pale. “This is who the Democrats are now, my friends,” he said. “They’re the party that despises America and the people who built it.”A protester holds a Mexican flag as Vice President JD Vance speaks at the convention.AP Photo/Julio CortezEyes were on the vice president at this convention because after the midterms, the political conversation will start to turn to Trump’s successor. Vance is the obvious and leading candidate to become the next Republican nominee for president, though he is not without his detractors.If this was a quasi-audition, Vance certainly passed. At one point, after a woman yelled out “JD 48” – Vance to become the 48th president – the crowd cheered and began chanting: “48! 48!”Vance settled them down. “We gotta take care of business this November, then we’ll worry about what comes next,” he said.Two events loomed large over the afternoon. Thursday was the one-year anniversary of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and the eve of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, in which nearly 3000 people were killed by Islamic extremists.It set the backdrop for several speakers to rail against Islamism and left-wing political violence. Texas senator Ted Cruz had the crowd on its feet several times as he condemned what he portrayed as a “red-green alliance” of communists and Islamists taking over the Democratic Party.“They hate Christians, they hate Jews, they hate capitalism, they hate the Constitution and they hate America,” he said.Trump greeting the audience. At one point, he made them recite a pledge to “the greatest president in the history of the United States”.AP Photo/Julio CortezTexas senator Ted Cruz had the crowd on its feet several times as he condemned what he portrayed as a “red-green alliance” of communists and Islamists taking over the Democratic Party.AP Photo/Julio CortezAt one point, Cruz named several progressive Democrats and their associates, including New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, far-left podcaster Hasan Piker, El-Sayed and Talarico.“When people tell you who they are, believe them,” Cruz said. “When [far-left podcaster] Hasan Piker says America deserved 9/11, believe him.”As he said it, a man in the crowd appeared to shout out “he should be shot”. He repeated the interjection each time Cruz mentioned another Democrat.El-Sayed was a constant target throughout the evening. Mike Rogers, a former Republican congressman who is running against El-Sayed for the Senate seat, accused his opponent of excusing or rationalising terrorism.When Lebanese-American man Ayman Ghazali rammed his car into the Temple Israel synagogue in Detroit in the name of Hezbollah earlier this year, El-Sayed said, “hurt people hurt people”. Ghazali had lost family members in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon the previous week.A flag in honour of assassinated Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed exactly one year ago.BloombergAbdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for US Senate from Michigan, was mentioned countless times.Bloomberg“They treat our country like it’s the villain,” Rogers told the Republican crowd in Dallas. “Terror is terror. Evil is evil ... You don’t sympathise with terrorists, you don’t sanitise extremism.”This was not just another Senate race, he added. “This election is about the soul of our country ... and it is about who you stand with when that American way of life is threatened.”Later, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a scion of the famous Kennedy family, spoke at length about his departure from the Democratic Party and into the embrace of Trumpism.Trump returned to the stage to close out proceedings with a shorter speech that rehashed key points from the night before, including his $US5000 election inducement that Democrats have labelled an illegal bribe.He asked the audience to raise their right hands and recite a pledge “to the greatest president in the history of the United States”.They obliged, and Trump made them swear to God they would vote – warning they would go to hell if they broke their word.And with that, Trump handed the stage to opera singer Christopher Macchio, saying that for once, he wanted to make a short speech.“I’m getting a little bit tired of politics,” he said. The crowd laughed – no one would believe that for a second.Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. 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