WASHINGTON — To hear Republicans tell it, they are well on their way to taking control of the U.S. House and Senate in next year’s midterm elections.
Exactly what the party would do with newfound majorities in Congress, though, is less clear.
Stinging critiques of President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders — particularly over their handling of inflation, crime and immigration — have been at the center of Republican political efforts heading into the coming election year.
But some GOP veterans are beginning to urge members of the party to place a greater emphasis on outlining policy solutions to the problems they are highlighting to make the strongest possible case to voters.
Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who co-wrote a legislative agenda called the “Contract with America” ahead of his party winning control of the House for the first time in 40 years in 1994, said criticizing Democrats should only be “half the campaign.”
“If you don’t have a positive program, you have no basis for governing,” Gingrich said in an interview. “If you can’t come up with policies you can defend, why are you running?”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is following Gingrich’s lead. He launched seven “task forces” earlier this year to develop policy solutions that House Republicans can present to voters before the 2022 midterm elections.
“Those policies will demonstrate how Republicans will govern from Day One in the majority to get America back on track and to address the crises that have emerged under Democrats’ one-party rule,” McCarthy spokesman Mark Bednar said in an email.
It’s a strategy House Republicans have pursued in the past. In addition to Gingrich’s 1994 efforts, House Republican leaders released a “Pledge to America” ahead of the 2010 midterm elections, when the party regained control of the House. And McCarthy announced a “Commitment to America” program during last year’s elections, when Republicans gained seats in the House but did not win a majority.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has taken a different approach. He has typically avoided releasing a sprawling policy platform before an election, directing much of his attention toward attacking opponents instead.
Axios reported that McConnell told a group of donors last month that Senate Republicans do not plan to roll out a legislative agenda for the 2022 elections. A McConnell spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
Chris Hartline, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said there are ongoing conversations around the party’s policy plans for the midterm elections. But for now, he said the committee was leaving it up to individual candidates to develop their own ideas.
“We have a Biden administration that’s the best thing for us to be talking about politically,” Hartline said. “That’s what we’re going to be focused on from the NRSC.”
REPUBLICAN RISKS
From a political perspective, some Republicans don’t see much upside to taking even the slightest bit of focus off the Democrats. Biden’s approval rating has been mired in the low 40s for weeks as he’s confronted the lingering coronavirus pandemic and rising inflation while struggling to advance a major spending bill through Congress.
Some Republicans argue that releasing a specific policy platform would leave their candidates vulnerable to attacks and allow Democrats to change the subject.
“If you can make Biden the issue, you stand to make significant gains,” said Tom Davis, a former National Republican Congressional Committee chairman. “If you make this a choice between us and them, I think it’s a different animal altogether.”
Some Republicans also argue the party would risk overpromising by releasing a legislative agenda before the midterms. Even if they manage to win majorities in the House and Senate in 2022, Biden would still serve as a roadblock for at least two years.
Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee aide, said some voters were disappointed the party wasn’t able to follow through on their campaign promises, like repealing the Affordable Care Act, after the GOP won a majority in the House in 2010, even though Democrats still controlled the Senate and the White House at the time.
Heye and others noted that much of the GOP, led by former President Donald Trump, is now more focused on the last election and purging members of the party who are perceived as disloyal than any specific policy area. Republicans also did not write an updated version of their platform during the 2020 national convention.
“You should be doing this regardless, but politically there doesn’t seem to be any reason to,” Heye said. “It’s not clear what the Republican policy priorities would be.”
Democrats say a lack of a legislative vision could give them an opening to portray Republicans as unserious about governing,
“Republicans have nothing to offer other than opposition to Democrats and undying loyalty to Donald Trump,” said Democratic strategist Josh Schwerin. “Republicans are giving us the opportunity to define them and we need to take full advantage of that.”
REPUBLICAN OPPORTUNITIES
While the Democrats’ unpopularity has created a favorable political environment for the GOP, some Republicans argue that making a proactive policy case would help ensure voters, particularly independents, come all the way into the party’s fold.
Veteran GOP pollster David Winston pointed to Republican Glenn Youngkin’s victory in last month’s Virginia governor’s election. To address voters’ concerns about inflation, Youngkin not only criticized Democrats’ handling of the issue, but also proposed eliminating the state’s grocery tax to provide some relief.
“There’s no question that the electorate is not happy with the Democrats at this point,” Winston said. “That creates a really great opportunity for Republicans. But it’s an opportunity, it’s not an outcome yet.”
Gingrich outlined some other benefits of releasing a legislative platform, which he advised Republicans to do closer to the November election. He said a purely negative campaign would risk decreasing voter turnout, and that having an agenda in place ahead of time could help congressional leaders keep their members in line.
But more than anything, Gingrich said, Republicans owe it to voters.
“The purpose of the campaign, in part, is for people to make an informed judgment about what kind of future they want,” Gingrich said. And if you refuse to tell them what sort of future you represent, I think you’re sort of cheating them of what they should legitimately be able to expect.”
____
