The GOP has boiled its message down to a half-dozen themes about what happens when one party — President Biden’s, for the moment — controls both the House and the Senate. The case for every Republican candidate has six paragraphs and a coda.
“Affordability” should lead off most ads and speeches. Gas prices are falling with the approach of recession and the end of summer driving but groceries soared 13 percent year-over-year in July and everyone’s got to eat.
“Anxiety” covers a host of worries, of course, but serious crime and concern for loved ones tops the list. The concern over violence crescendos with every mass shooting, but it is the fear of crime rising in some suburbs that has the power to boost Republican hopes.
Ordinary Americans’ continuing “anger” with elites — whether inside big companies, big government, big media or big universities — will once again prove to be a surprise factor in voter turnout, inevitably missed by the pollsters and prognosticators. The anger is powered by a sense of things headed in the wrong direction and a resentment at those who label supporters of Donald Trump as fascists, racists and sexists. Futility at enforcing a border and disinterest in the consequences fuels the upset. The scourge of fentanyl has an address and it includes most entry points along the southern border, particularly San Diego. If Republican Senate hopefuls in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Colorado and Washington state have a hidden superpower, this anger is it.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member