"We're stuck:" GOP accepts Trump's all-about-me midterms (axios.com)

President Trump is hitting the campaign trail and doing the last thing many Republicans want: making the 59 days to the Nov. 3 midterms a referendum on him. At the same time, they know it's inevitable. Why it matters : Most Republicans are too scared to bluntly tell Trump how unpopular he is. And Trump wants an unprecedented convention next week, ads and events to focus on him. The big picture : Their timidity aside, Republicans need Trump's low-propensity voters to turn out. So they're going along with a Trump-focused strategy that many believe could cost them credibility — along with seats in the House and Senate. "We have no choice. We're stuck on the boat with him whether we like it or not," said a top Republican campaign official who's in contact with Trump's political operation. "Now, a rising tide raises all boats," the official added. "But the only ones who sound sure about the tide rising is the White House." Driving the news: At Trump's urging, the GOP on Wednesday and Thursday is hosting an unprecedented midterm convention in Dallas, headlined by the president. Zoom in : Trump plans to speak both nights at the convention. He's also the star of his political operation's first two TV ads: The first 30-second ad, called "Toughest Guy," is all about you-know-who. The second, labeled "Tax Cut Prices," features Trump as well and would be more conventional for a campaign in which he's on the ballot. Inside the room: Trump essentially demanded the ads focus on him because midterms are referendums on a president anyway, and he wanted to tout his accomplishments, The Atlantic first reported. "I'm not on the ballot but I'm on the ballot," Trump told one confidant who relayed the conversation to Axios. "Our job is to turn Trump voters into midterm voters," a Trump adviser told Axios. The intrigue: The ads, however, are a de facto compromise between Trump and his political staff. "This is for the audience of one," Trump's confidant said, referring to the president. "If the boss wants it, he gets it." One Trump adviser said to expect more conventional ads: "We will be stripping the bark off of Democrats and supporting our candidates. ... It's not all Trump-focused ads." What he's saying : On Friday, Trump acknowledged to reporters that "history has said that the sitting president" sees midterm losses, but he didn't complete the thought and then talked about how "nobody's ever had a first one and a half years like we have." "We have around $1 billion that I can spend," Trump said, referring to his super PAC and political nonprofit, which together have about $800 million. "I'm allocating, probably, about $400-$500 million" for the midterms, he said. "This is my money that I control now," he said. "I can spend it for what I want to spend it for. But I'm going to help a lot of the congressmen and senators that need help." Yes, but: It's unclear how Trump could spend that much money in two months. Between the lines: Trump's message in his tax cut ads is