At GOP midterm convention, Michael Whatley doesn’t meet the moment | Opinion
Given President Trump’s glaring unpopularity, many Republicans decided to stay away from their party’s unorthodox midterm convention in Dallas this week.
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Michael Whatley did not.
That’s not exactly surprising, given Whatley’s close relationship with the president, who handpicked him to run for U.S. Senate. Whatley has made no effort to distance himself from Trump, despite trailing his opponent, former Gov. Roy Cooper, by an average of eight points in public polls.
At this point, Whatley doesn’t have much to lose by appearing at the convention, but it’s also unlikely to improve his performance. It doesn’t help, of course, that the event is essentially a Trump pep rally and has earned the nickname “Trumpapalooza.”
But it’s also because Whatley seems to have no interest in pivoting away from a message that clearly isn’t working. He’s chosen his path, and he’s sticking to it, even if that path is leading him in the opposite direction of victory.
In an uninspiring and fairly brief speech, Whatley defended some of Trump’s economic policies and outlined why Cooper is the “worst governor in the history of North Carolina.” He repeated the egregious and blatantly false claim that Cooper is responsible for the death of Iryna Zarutska, who was killed on Charlotte’s light rail last year.
Nothing about it was new, and almost none of it was about himself.
Whatley said he would fight for North Carolinians, but he didn’t explain how. He said he would defeat the “Democratic, radical, extreme, far-left agenda,” but he didn’t articulate an agenda of his own. Like many politicians, he’s quick to point out problems but slow to offer solutions, and he’s struggled to define himself outside of his support from Trump and his opposition to Cooper.
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Whatley made a virtually identical speech six months ago at CPAC, another high-profile national convention where he relinquished the opportunity to define himself. It shows how little he has evolved as a candidate since. Republicans seem to be holding out hope that the dynamics of the race will suddenly change. But as Election Day grows closer, the likelihood of such a dramatic shift is waning, and Whatley can no longer afford to be so patient.
In some ways, Whatley’s path has been chosen for him, as has his ability to deviate from it. He can’t fix the economy, end the war in Iran or reverse Trump’s terrible approval rating. Nor can he really distance himself from those things, because his connections to Trump and the Republican Party are the only reason he’s in this race at all.
But candidates who don’t adapt get left behind. Whatley is running a campaign that might have worked just fine if he were running two years ago, or even two years before that. But it’s just not a campaign that’s working for him — or any Republican — right now.
Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten covers politics and the 2026 elections for The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer.
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