President Trump Set To Fill American Airlines Center In Dallas As Thousands Line Up Over 24 Hrs Early

Here's more, from the Dallas Morning News:

On Thursday, President Donald Trump is holding a major campaign rally at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, hoping to fire up the North Texas Republican base. At the same time, Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke is staging a counterrally at the Theatre at Grand Prairie. Both events are expected to draw large crowds and provide political fodder for the 2020 campaign.

Texas is important to Democrats and Republicans, and could be a presidential battleground.

The impeachment inquiry against Trump will be a major focus of both rallies.

Here are five other things to know about Thursday’s dueling rallies.

Trump is trying to energize Republicans in a blue county

A lot has changed since Trump’s 2016 visit to the American Airlines Center, where he thrilled about 15,000 people with his unorthodox, often humorous campaigning.

In 2018, Democrats crushed Republicans in an already blue Dallas County, leaving the party with only Republicans Angie Chen Button of Garland and Morgan Meyer of University Park in the Texas House.

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There was troubling news outside of Dallas as well. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke carried Tarrant County is his race against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz. In reliably red Collin County, O’Rourke got a stunning 46% of the vote.

Trump’s mission is clear. He’ll try to ignite the Republican base in the suburbs and what’s left of it in Dallas County. The president still has strong support with Republicans. Before he travels to Dallas, he’ll attend a luncheon fundraiser in Fort Worth and visit the Louis Vuitton leather workshop near Keene in Johnson County.

But the influx of independent and soft Republican voters from areas like California, New York and Illinois could make his task more difficult.

Trump has said at several rallies that he likes Dallas, and his campaign on Wednesday added a daylong “45 Fest” outside the arena featuring food trucks, live music and big screen TVs. The event will show how much Dallas likes him.

Beto O’Rourke looks to boost his presidential campaign with the “Rally Against Fear”

While the stakes are high for local Republicans, Thursday’s dueling rallies are also critical for O’Rourke.

The El Paso Democrat rolled up huge numbers in North Texas for his 2018 Senate campaign against Cruz. But his presidential campaign, after a decent start, fell flat. Even in Texas, most polls show former Vice President Joe Biden leading in the March, Lone Star presidential primary.

As he did during Trump’s February rally in El Paso, O’Rourke hopes to not only counter the president, but bring attention to his own presidential platform. When O’Rourke launched his campaign in March, he rose near the top of the polls, in part because of the media attention he got in the months before his official announcement.

“We’re going to have bands, we’re going to have people,” O’Rourke told The Dallas Morning News and KXAS (NBC 5) Wednesday. “We’re going to have Republicans, Independents, Democrats all coming together to stand up against hatred and fear and racism and the violence that so often, unfortunately follows.” O’Rourke said.

Critics say that since then O’Rourke has been exposed as a flawed candidate with desperate policy positions that include a buyback program for assault weapons like the AR-15.

If O’Rourke is successful, the rally will not only help his sagging national numbers, but help put him back in control of the Texas primary.

Expect other politicians to try to get exposure at both rallies

Trump’s rally will feature some of the state’s leading Republicans, including Sen. John Cornyn.

“I’m looking forward to speaking as part of the warm up to the president’s appearance. And for those of you who’ve witnessed or been at some of these rallies, they are something to behold,” Cornyn said. “The president seems to really derive a lot of energy from the audiences that come there. ... But really, what I intend to talk about is our economy and how well it’s doing.”

Cornyn, the state’s senior senator, is up for reelection next year and numerous Democrats are trying to take his seat.

O’Rourke’s campaign announced that they invited the Democrats trying to unseat Cornyn, and many are participating, including state Sen. Royce West of Dallas, businesswoman MJ Hegar of Round Rock, former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell of Houston, Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards and organizer Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez of Austin.

For one night, North Texas will be the epicenter of Texas politics.