Republicans need to make some noise. It’s not enough to gloat over the rise of what many in the Republican Party consider the loony left. Rather, Republicans must convince voters they deserve to keep the majority in the House and the Senate. And currently, their message is thin.
Republicans are practically salivating over the nomination of Abdul El-Sayed, an anti-Israel Muslim extremist, to run for the seat held by the retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). El-Sayed’s victory improves their chances hopes of flipping the blue seat red in November. Former House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R), a well-respected businessman, will face off against El-Sayed; in head-to-head polling, the Republican just barely leads.
But the Socialists convulsing the Democratic Party are not only chalking up wins in deep blue territories. They are also making inroads in a country which, having taken too much for granted, has grown less enthusiastic about capitalism and less supportive of our long-time ally Israel.
Republicans have taken to calling opponents “communists,” aware that the “socialist” label no longer destroys a candidate’s chances. And that is especially true among young people; according to polling by the CATO Institute, nearly two-thirds of Americans ages 18 to 29 have a favorable view of socialism. That is who voted for El-Sayed. Polling indicates that some 80 percent of young people favored the Leftist former health official over the establishment-backed Haley Stevens. El-Sayed ran especially well in college towns; surveys show that it is mainly white liberals with college and graduate degrees who are hearing the siren call of the socialist left.
Democrats’ advantage in the generic ballot, now at 7 points according to the Real Clear Polling averages, is slightly lower than it was a few months ago, which might indicate a repudiation of the slide towards collectivism. But other surveys, like those from CNN and Marquette, show voters viewing Democrats more favorably than they did last spring. It may be the leftward thrust of the party is actually helping the party’s standing.
For Republicans, that should be alarming. Nate Silver has suggested that Republicans could keep the House (which he calls a “low-probability event”) if the economy is booming (which it is) and if Republicans win “the argument that Democrats are too far left.”
For sure, Republicans need to talk up the extreme and anti-American ideas being touted by some on the Left — dangerous ideas like abolishing the police and prisons, and eliminating the Electoral College and the U.S. Senate. In 2021, at the peak of the Woke Era, state Rep. Francesca Hong, frontrunner for the Democratic nomination to be Wisconsin’s next governor, called for cancellation of Thanksgiving as a culturally insensitive celebration.
But it’s not enough just to point out all of the kookery. Republicans must also show voters how they will make their lives better. Just as it was not enough for Democrats to make hating President Trump the central plank of their party’s platform for the last decade, Republicans cannot rely solely on the public’s aversion to antisemitism and anti-Americanism to win elections. They must offer something positive — something better.
With only 90 days left before the midterm elections, time is running out to do that. The frustration for many of us is that our elected officials do not even seem to be trying.
Republicans control both houses of Congress but have barely taken advantage of that majority in the last year. While the first year of Trump’s second term saw the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, which saved average American families thousands of dollars in taxes, the last several months have yielded few wins.
Congress did pass a roughly $70 billion reconciliation bill that funded ICE and Customs and Border Patrol through the balance of Trump’s term. But that is hardly the stuff of campaign messaging. Trump’s success in closing the border has caused the issue to recede among voters’ priorities.
The SAVE Act, a popular bill promising to make our elections more secure, has been mired, with several Republican senators blocking its inclusion in reconciliation bills. Most Americans — Republican and Democrat — approve of voter ID laws, but the bill includes other features like limits on mail-in ballots and proof of citizenship that some found troublesome. Instead of coalescing around a one-issue bill requiring voter ID, and forcing Democrats to vote against it, Republicans sent Congress home.
Meanwhile, efforts to create a third reconciliation package and advance other Republican priorities have come to naught. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) appears unwilling or unable to push further tax cuts, even though polling indicates such measures would be popular.
Recent surveys conducted by right-leaning pollster John McLaughlin show a majority of voters (51 percent) “want Congress to enact additional tax cuts to accelerate economic growth,” whereas only 26 percent “believe the recent tax reductions are sufficient.” He also found that 71 percent would back a measure allowing homeowners to transfer their low-interest mortgages to new homes, which would instantly increase housing inventory. Two-thirds of respondents favored “reducing income tax rates to 12 percent for middle-income Americans currently paying 22 percent or 24 percent.”
Another strong majority wants to index capital gains taxes for inflation, so that those who sell houses or stocks are not forced to pay taxes on phantom gains.
McLaughlin concludes that nearly 60 percent of voters would like to see a reconciliation package that “combines middle-class tax relief, reductions in waste and fraud, proof of citizenship and voter identification requirements, and other pro-growth reforms.”
There is the playbook; Republicans should jump on it and Trump should push for it, too.
Additionally, they must advertise not only the gains in the One Big Beautiful Bill, but talk up our capitalist system, emphasizing the opportunities that abound in our economy and under this administration. It is no surprise that entrepreneurship has never been hotter, with a huge surge the number of new companies being created.
McLaughlin found that voters repudiate Socialism when it is connected to Big Government solutions. Similarly, they embrace capitalism when it is tied to free markets.
Republicans need to connect those dots.
Read Liz Peek’s full column on The Hill here.
