Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich has issued a call to Republicans running to take back control of the U.S. House and Senate in 2022: limit the public attacks of President Joe Biden and refocus on policy changes to help the American people.
In 1994, Gingrich co-wrote a legislative agenda titled, “Contract with America” ahead of his party winning control of the House for the first time in 40 years. The message Democrats should only be “half the campaign," Gingrich warned.
“If you don’t have a positive program, you have no basis for governing,” Gingrich said. “If you can’t come up with policies you can defend, why are you running?”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is heeding the message. Launching seven "task forces" this year to "develop policy solutions that House Republicans can present to voters before the 2022 midterm elections," The Herald Sun reported.
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“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.
"It’s a strategy House Republicans have pursued in the past," The Herald Sun reported. "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."
Spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee Chris Hartline said there are "ongoing conversations around the party’s policy plans for the midterm elections." Currently, individual candidates are in charge of developing their own initiatives and promises to the people, but that might soon change.
“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.”
Axios reported, "Every midterm cycle, there are Republican donors and operatives who argue the party should release a positive, pro-active governing outline around which candidates can rally." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) "adamantly rejects this idea, preferring to skewer Democrats for their perceived failures."
“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.”
