The Republican midterm convention landed badly, a bad sign for a party already struggling with an unpopular president and a grim economy.

• Trump closed the convention with a rambling half-hour riff, telling the crowd to vote whether or not they are registered and that they would go to hell if they did not vote Republican.
• A tribute montage casting Trump as a God-sent "shepherd to mankind" undercut JD Vance's pitch that Democrats are the weird ones.
• Vance also implied Texas Democrat James Talarico is a pedophile without evidence, and one speaker framed Democratic candidates as people who should be shot — on the anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination.
• Republican insiders leaked their own despair beforehand, hoping nobody would watch a convention scheduled against NFL opening weekend.
• Talarico has pulled steadily ahead of Ken Paxton in Texas polling since July, and the culture-war attacks are not closing the gap.

Outlook: With gas prices high and Trump admitting they will not fall before the midterms, Republicans look set to head into November leaning on a $5,000 payout promise that is unlikely to materialize.