Most voters probably know that the nation’s major political parties gather every four years for a major national convention, at which they formally nominate their respective presidential tickets. The quadrennial events also offer the parties an opportunity to put their best foot forward while they have the national spotlight......

As the process moved forward, the Democratic National Committee ultimately decided not to bother with such a gathering, but earlier this year the Republican National Committee approved a plan for a midterm convention, and it now appears that it’s actually going to happen. The Associated Press reported:

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Republicans will hold their first-ever national convention ahead of November’s midterm elections, an unusual event aimed at boosting turnout in races that will decide whether the party maintains control of Congress.

The convention will be held in Dallas on Sept. 9 and 10.

..Whether Republican officials appreciate it or not, there are two main problems they should probably keep in mind. The first is that holding a national convention is extremely expensive. Indeed, when Democrats abandoned their midterm conventions several decades ago, it was largely because they simply saw better uses for limited financial resources.

Republicans have a significant financial advantage over Democrats, but that doesn’t make it any easier to justify throwing several million dollars at an unnecessary event in September.

But there’s another dimension to this that’s just as important: One of the underlying points of a national convention is nationalizing an election cycle — and given how very unpopular the incumbent Republican president is, the party should be going out of its way to localize the midterms.

Indeed, it’s likely that many Democratic officials are looking forward to the GOP’s convention, since it will give the minority party an opportunity to do what it wants to do anyway: connect Republican candidates and officeholders to Trump.