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Midterm Convention Momentum: Jim Pfaff on The Morning Answer with Jennifer Horn | Aug 28, 2026

Published: August 28, 2026
Network: The Morning Answer with Jennifer Horn
Analysis: Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff

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On The Morning Answer with Jennifer Horn (August 28, 2026), Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff previewed stacked California events and then got to the bigger stage: the Republican Party’s first-of-its-kind midterm convention. Horn framed it as momentum Republicans usually reserve for presidential years — with only weeks left to hold the House and Senate. Pfaff said the Caucus bought a platinum suite, will run live broadcasts and donor meetings from Dallas, and that Trump’s ask for the event is really about keeping Congress in Republican hands while selling what the administration has already delivered.

Topics Covered

• Midterm Convention Momentum With 68 Days on the Clock
• Caucus Platinum Suite, Live Broadcasts, and Donor Work
• Why Dallas Is Trump’s On-Ballot Fight This Year
• Republican Messaging That Still Sucks
• $5 Trillion to $40 Trillion: Cut the Spending
• Key Takeaways

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Midterm Convention Momentum With 68 Days on the Clock

Horn opened the segment after TPUSA ticket plugs: Republicans have decided to do a midterm convention, and she called it a great idea because conventions are usually saved for presidential years even though midterm majorities need equal or greater energy. With roughly 68 days to Election Day on her clock, she asked Pfaff what the Conservative Caucus has planned.

“We’ve got to keep the House and the Senate in Republican hands. As frustrating as Republicans can be sometimes, that is still a far better outcome.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

Pfaff treated the event as more than a reunion. The Caucus presence is deliberate investment — the same Dallas track running through his other August–September hits. For continuity on turnout and messaging, see low-propensity voters and turnout and the Lindell TV Dallas preview.

Caucus Platinum Suite, Live Broadcasts, and Donor Work

Pfaff said TCC secured what organizers call a platinum suite — not the absolute top tier, but a strong room on the floor just above the main suites — and will put nearly the entire staff there. The plan: live broadcasts from the suite, time with donors in the area, activists in the crowd, and interviews around the hall.

“We’ve got what they’re calling a platinum suite. It’s not the most expensive suite, but it’s a nice one on the floor just above the main suites, and we’re going to have a massive presence there.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

Why Dallas Is Trump’s On-Ballot Fight This Year

Pfaff gave two reasons Trump was right to call for the midterm convention. First: functionally, Donald Trump is running for president this year — keep the House and Senate or the second term turns into something worse than the investigation-wrangled first term. Second: use a two-day broadcast stage to highlight economic and domestic-security accomplishments so Republicans leave with a message that can survive into November.

“Donald Trump’s running for president this year. I mean, that’s the situation. We got to keep the House and the Senate in Republican hands.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

Frustrating Republicans, he said, are still a far better outcome than handing Democrats the tools to hamstring the presidency again.

Republican Messaging That Still Sucks

Horn pressed the gap she hears on air: Trump has given Republicans economy, national security, and order to sell, and candidates still lack consistent messaging. Pfaff did not soften it — he called the messaging failure the understatement of the year and said the word that comes to mind is that it sucks.

His Exhibit A was the Save America Act: leadership claims they held votes, while Pfaff says the job is to fight for a bill roughly 80 percent of Americans want. Related Caucus coverage: voter ID and the Save America Act and the Worldview Tube Save America Act debate.

“The Republicans, and you and I have talked a whole lot about the Save America Act. I mean, that’s just one of the obvious stupid things. Oh, well, we held votes on it. No, no, no, fight for it because 80% of the American people want it.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

He also credited pieces of the big economic package — no tax on tips, overtime, and Social Security, plus immediate expensing of capital investment that helps medium-sized employers — while noting much of that benefit shows up on a lag as projects get built.

$5 Trillion to $40 Trillion: Cut the Spending

Pfaff’s harder charge was fiscal. DOGE can do what an executive can do; Congress still has to stop the spending. He reminded Horn’s audience that OMB once projected, from a roughly $5 trillion debt in 1999, that the national debt could be paid off by 2013 — and the country is now staring at a $40 trillion track instead.

“Are you aware that we had about a $5 trillion debt in 1999 and the Office of Management and Budget was projecting based on spending and revenue projections at the time that we would have that national debt paid off by 2013?”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

He tied NGO funding to street chaos examples such as CHIRLA during the LA riots — federal and California dollars, he said, flowing to groups that then showed up in violence — and argued Republicans returning in September need reconciliation muscle to cut spending, not just message about it. Prior debt framing at TCC: the $40 trillion national debt.

Key Takeaways

1. Midterm convention is a momentum machine – Horn and Pfaff treat Dallas as the energy Republicans usually save for presidential years, with weeks — not months — on the clock.
2. Caucus is all-in on a platinum suite – Staff, donors, activists, live broadcasts, and floor interviews.
3. Keeping Congress is Trump’s 2026 fight – Lose the House/Senate and the presidency gets hamstrung again; use Dallas to sell results.
4. Messaging still fails the easy tests – Save America Act is an 80% issue that leadership treats like a checked box.
5. Spending is the missing vote – From a projected payoff path at $5 trillion to a $40 trillion reality; reconciliation has to cut, not coast.

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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 Aug 28, 2026 on The Morning Answer with Jennifer Horn.