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54 Days to the Midterms and Ballots in the Mail: Jim Pfaff on Lindell TV | Sep 9, 2026

Published: September 9, 2026
Network: Lindell TV
Analysis: Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff

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Vanessa Broussard opened her Lindell TV hit on September 9, 2026 from the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, and the first thing Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff put on the table was the calendar. There are 54 days to the midterms, ballots are already going out in the mail, and this, he said, is the time you have to get it done. Donald Trump is committed to that and is planning to run the midterm like a presidential campaign, because if Democrats take the House, Pfaff said, it will be worse than the Russia hoax of the first term. From there the segment moved fast: what congressional candidates who are not yet in Congress can do, why Republicans have got to have a spine, what a return to Democrat control would actually look like, and the one piece of good news in the numbers — the party that spends the most money has kept the Congress in every midterm since 2010.

Topics Covered

• 54 Days to the Midterms, and the Ballots Are Already Out
• “Republicans Have Got to Have a Spine”
• What a Democrat House Would Cost Trump
• Breaking the Off-Year Tradition at the RNC Midterm Convention in Dallas
• The Spending Record: $400 Million and Four Midterms
• Key Takeaways

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54 Days to the Midterms, and the Ballots Are Already Out

Pfaff’s frame for the convention is operational, not ceremonial. He called it a real opportunity to jumpstart things going into the final stretch, and then anchored the stretch with two facts: the count of days left, and the fact that voting has already begun by mail.

“This is a real opportunity to jumpstart things going into the next, I think, 54 days before election. And honestly, there are ballots going out in the mail. This is the time that you’ve got to get it done.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

That combination is what makes 54 days to the midterms a shorter runway than it sounds. A campaign that plans to peak in late October is planning to peak after some of its voters have already voted. Broussard made the same point closing the segment, telling viewers the ballots are in the mail and to make sure they vote. Pfaff said Donald Trump is committed to the effort and is treating it as his own race, which is the same argument the Caucus has been making across our coverage of the RNC Midterm Convention in Dallas.

“Republicans Have Got to Have a Spine”

Pfaff’s opening is with the candidates who do not hold office yet. One of the opportunities at the convention, he said, is that there are many congressional candidates who are not presently in Congress.

“And Republicans have got to have a spine.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

Pfaff said there are many congressional candidates who are not presently in Congress and who have an opportunity to set the mark for something new — a new group of people who come in and change how the place works. The ask he put to them is specific: commit to following Donald Trump’s plan, get it implemented in Congress, and have the courage to stand up to GOP leadership and say the agenda needs to move forward. If they do that, he said, Republicans could really have something positive.

He did not leave the leadership complaint abstract. When Broussard raised the promises still in limbo — the Save America Act among them — and said that is not the president’s fault, Pfaff finished the thought for her: “John Thune’s fault.” That is the same holdup we covered when Pfaff walked through the Save America Act sitting in the Senate.

What a Democrat House Would Cost Trump

Pfaff’s case for urgency runs through what happens the morning after. Broussard put the same stakes in her own words during the segment: if Democrats take the House or the Senate, the president will not be able to live up to his promises, because right now he can tout promises made and promises kept with a lot of promises still in limbo.

“If Democrats take the House, it’s going to be worse than the Russia hoax in the first term.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

That is why, in Pfaff’s reading, the president is planning to make this a campaign of his own — it has to be like a presidential campaign for him, he said, because of what a Democrat House would mean. Pfaff then named what the country goes back to on the policy side. As bad as it was during the Biden administration with censorship, with shutting down businesses, with people made to lose their jobs for not taking the jab, he said, that is what we would go back to — times 10. He wants voters to recognize that is what is literally at stake.

Breaking the Off-Year Tradition at the RNC Midterm Convention in Dallas

Pfaff did not pretend the history is friendly. He conceded the pattern and then argued it is not a law.

“So we have to break tradition. It’s true, these off-year elections tend to go against the president’s party in power. But there have been times that hasn’t happened.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

The word he used is “tradition,” not “gravity,” and the distinction carries the argument. A tradition is a pattern produced by behavior — the president’s party gets complacent, its low-propensity voters stay home, and the other side’s base turns out angry. Behavior can be changed inside 54 days to the midterms, which is what a convention on September 9 is for. Pfaff described the event as a chance to jumpstart, and Broussard called it a pep rally with 54 days to go.

The Spending Record: $400 Million and Four Midterms

Against a lot of information Pfaff called problematic, he offered one number set as good news. Look at the last four midterm cycles, he said, and the pattern is consistent.

“The party that spent the most money overall kept the Congress. The only time that Republicans didn’t spend more was 2018, when Democrats took the House and Senate back.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 — in each of them the bigger spender held the Congress, and the one cycle Republicans were outspent is the one they lost. Pfaff expects the money to be bigger on the Republican side this year, especially with Donald Trump’s super PAC money going in at what he put on the order of $400 million. His conclusion was measured rather than triumphant: that can make a big positive difference, so we will see. There is hope, but there are a lot of challenges ahead, and all of it needs to be addressed at this midterm convention.

“Those ballots are already in the mail heading to mailboxes. So make sure you vote.”
— Vanessa Broussard, Lindell TV

The Conservative Caucus ran its media suite on Media Row in Dallas for the convention, and Broussard closed the segment by noting that the Caucus was there, Lindell TV was there, and viewers were watching coverage from the RNC in Dallas. That is where this segment ends: 54 days, ballots moving, and a party that has to decide whether it is going to behave like the tradition or break it.

Key Takeaways

1. 54 days and ballots already out – Pfaff opened with the calendar: 54 days to the election and ballots going out in the mail, which makes the convention a jumpstart rather than a warm-up.
2. Republicans have got to have a spine – Congressional candidates who are not yet in Congress can set a new mark by committing to Trump’s plan and standing up to GOP leadership to move the agenda.
3. A Democrat House would be worse than the Russia hoax – Pfaff said losing the House or Senate ends promises kept and returns the country to the Biden-era record of censorship, closed businesses and lost jobs, times 10.
4. The Save America Act is on John Thune – When Broussard noted the promises still in limbo were not the president’s fault, Pfaff named Senate leadership: “John Thune’s fault.”
5. Off-year tradition is behavior, not law – Off-year elections tend to go against the president’s party, but Pfaff pointed out there have been times that has not happened.
6. The bigger spender keeps the Congress – In 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 the party that spent the most kept Congress; Republicans were outspent only in 2018. Trump super PAC money this cycle is on the order of $400 million.

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About The Conservative Caucus:
The Conservative Caucus is a grassroots public policy action organization, formed in 1974. Headed by President Jim Pfaff, the Caucus is committed to advancing free enterprise, limited government, and traditional values.

Originally broadcast Sep 9, 2026 on Lindell TV, live from the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas.