Republicans have presented their strategy for the upcoming November 8 midterm elections to the US Congress. Their main priorities are the fight against crime, curbing inflation and conducting investigations into the failed, from their point of view, policies of the current democratic government. According to experts, the traditional focus of the Republican Party has shifted. Considered “hawks” in foreign policy, conservatives do not focus on international issues – they stand up for improving the lives of ordinary Americans and express concern about the state of affairs in the economy.
On Friday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, speaking to supporters in Pennsylvania, formally unveiled the Republican Party’s strategy for the upcoming election and beyond, called “Commitment to America.”
According to FoxNews, the agenda was formulated with the participation of Republicans from all over the country with the express purpose of avoiding the impression that policy is being shaped by the top-down party leadership. The document was the culmination of more than a year of work that began across America with task forces dealing with various aspects of party politics. The findings of these groups on economics, technology, health, energy and other issues were taken into service to write the strategy of the party.
Presented by Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the strategy is a set of obligations to the American voters that the Republican Party undertakes.
This document allows us to judge what the Republicans in the House of Representatives are going to do if they regain the majority there. The Republican Party also hopes that due to the deteriorating situation in the US economy, they will be able to win against the Democrats and in the struggle for control in the Senate. In this case, the document will be extended to the upper house of Congress.
Recall that today, according to the forecasts of the national rating aggregator Fivethirtyeight, the Republicans still have a very high chance of regaining control of the House of Representatives in November – about 70%. The probability of gaining a majority in the Senate is much lower – about 30%.
GOP strategy, as the speech suggests Kevin McCarthywill be aimed at increasing US fossil fuel production, curbing illegal immigration and fighting crime.
In general, this strategy is extremely critical of what the current democratic leadership of the country is doing. In particular, the Republican leader accused Democratic legislators of ignoring rising crime and deteriorating economic conditions.
“We watched what they (Democrats.— “uh”) did to our population by depriving the police of funding. Now we have problems with crime from Portland to Philadelphia, and prosecutors look at it through their fingers, ”he was indignant.
The Republicans promise to tackle not only crime, but also the declining living standards of Americans.
“We need a strong economy. This means that you will be able to fill up your (fuel.— “uh”) tank. You will be able to buy products. You’ll have enough money left to go to Disneyland and save for the future so that wages go up, not down,” Mr. McCarthy said. And he continued: “We have a plan to create a secure nation. This means that your communities will be protected, your law enforcement agencies will be respected. The criminals will be held accountable. We believe in a future based on freedom.”
The general policy recommendations of the Republican agenda are divided into four categories: Strong Economy, Safe Nation, Future Built on Freedom, and Accountable Government. By remark PoliticoAlthough the Republicans promise to turn these proposals into laws in the future, this is unlikely to be feasible, as it will be difficult for them to overcome the Democratic president’s veto. So many of the priorities the GOP has outlined — from the Parental Rights Bill, to resolving the Chinese supply chain issue to hiring 200,000 police officers — are more likely to “serve as a rallying cry for the nation.”
What is highly likely, however, is a full-scale implementation by the Republicans of the authority to investigate the activities of the current administration, which is sure to become a big headache for her. In particular, as noted in the submitted document, “more than 14 whistleblowers have publicly expressed concern about the politicization of the FBI.” Thus, it can be assumed that Republican lawmakers are planning to roll up their sleeves to deal with the FBI investigation against Donald Trump.
The document also criticizes the lockdown, which broke the normal course of the educational process in American schools and universities, and the Democrats’ plans to “hire an army of 87,000 tax agents” – plans Republicans regard as an attack on the American middle class.
Kevin McCarthy, along with influential Republican congressmen Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan, who attended the event in Pennsylvania, vowed to take a closer look at China’s role in the coronavirus pandemic, analyze vaccination progress, and investigate problems along the border with Mexico. And this time, these are not empty threats, because Republicans will have the right to call any officials to congressional hearings, reminds Politico.
“We will provide the head of (Ministry of Homeland Security, Alejandro.— “uh”) Mallorcas has a reserved parking space, since he will have to testify many times,” promised Mr. Scaliz, breaking the applause of about a hundred and fifty supporters.
It is worth noting here that the Republican strategy was made public at a critical moment for the party. On the one hand, the Republicans have an advantage due to the unstable economy and the low approval rating of President Joe Biden, but on the other hand, the Democrats have strengthened their positions after the decision of the Supreme Court, which limited the right to abortion, and began a crusade against former President Donald Trump, which is expressed in investigations against him both in Congress and in the structures of the Department of Justice, including the FBI, as well as in American intelligence.
Many Republicans have embraced the party’s new platform and are hoping to reap additional political dividends ahead of the midterms.
Many compare the document to what was done back in the 1990s by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Newt Gingrich, who was able to reverse the trend towards the predominance of Democrats in the House of Representatives for several decades. Interestingly, the name of his strategy before the elections then was consonant with the one presented by Mr. McCarthy – “Contract with America.” Newt Gingrich himself called the GOP’s new plan “more thoughtful” than his own proposals, which helped launch the so-called Republican Revolution in the fall of 1994, ending 40 years of Democratic dominance in the lower house.
Interestingly, even the leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, who at first did not really like the plan, warmly supported it on his Twitter. He noted that thanks to the new strategy, US citizens will receive a lower house “that actually fights for American families, and does not make life difficult for them.”
House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, as expected, met the rivals’ strategy without enthusiasm. “I don’t think they have any kind of agenda. They have a lot of criticism but few solutions,” he told Politico.
The president of the American University in Moscow, Eduard Lozansky, in an interview with Kommersant, said that “the Republicans, who almost always side with the military-industrial complex, have the opportunity to intercept the agenda of the Democrats, who traditionally focus on social programs.” According to him, now in American politics, because of the situation in Ukraine, “there has been some castling.” “Of course, this happened not because they suddenly turned from hawks into doves, but for reasons of political conjuncture, hoping that the solution of internal problems is more important for the majority of voters,” he summed up.
