Democratic leaders and lawmakers are being urged to place an emphasis on exposing the real Republican agenda as midterm elections approach.
In a new op-ed published by The Hill, former acting Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile explains, "Republicans today are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Americans again, just as Nixon did, only this time by falsely claiming they have a plan to slow inflation."
She went on to detail what Democratic lawmakers need to do to ensure the party wins big in November. "Multiple state and local polls show that inflation is the top concern of voters in the midterm elections," she noted. "In order to win, Democratic candidates need to talk about their very real plans to get rising prices under control and to help Americans cope with price hikes that have hit them hard."
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Brazile acknowledged that Republican lawmakers will attempt to associate Democratic candidates with President Joe Biden, and argues that Democrats have an obligation to explain to American voters how the president's work is rebuilding the country's infrastructure.
"Republicans will tie Democratic candidates to the president," she wrote. "Hey Democrats, you don’t have to agree with everything President Biden has done or failed to do, you just need to respond by saying Biden is using his political capital to help rebuild America’s infrastructure and invest in both the short- and long-haul."
"Voters need to be reminded that the Biden administration and congressional Democrats pumped trillions of dollars into the economy with the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act," she continued. "These and other Democratic measures were a lifeline for millions of Americans as COVID-19 swept across the world."
Brazile also offered a suggestion to Democrats regarding what their central message should be:
"The Democratic economic message to voters in the next few final days of the campaign needs to be this: We can build on what we’ve done for you and give inflation a knock-out punch in the next two years if you give us continued majority control of the House and Senate. Giving us just two more seats in the Senate, so we have 52 votes, could enable us to modify the filibuster rule that requires 60 votes for the passage of most legislation in the Senate. That would let us do a lot more to improve your lives and focus on our future."
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She added, "Democrats need to make clear to voters that the 'secret plan' Republicans are offering to defeat inflation will be as ineffective and ultimately nonexistent as Nixon’s 'secret plan' to defeat North Vietnam."
Although Brazile noted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) does not believe voters deserve to know the full extent of the Republican agenda, the writer argues otherwise.
"The truth is that the Republicans’ 'secret plan' to fight inflation isn’t so secret, because some in the GOP have already spoken about it, much to McConnell’s chagrin," she wrote. "The truth is that Republicans want to fight inflation by inflicting severe economic pain on the American people that would make our problems even worse."
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