A “red wave” is indeed coming in 2022. American voters—including Independents—are more likely to vote Republican in November, with crime and inflation emerging as two feathers in conservative caps.
Much has been written about President Biden’s paltry polling and the window of opportunity it creates for Republicans. But conservatives cannot rest on their laurels in 2022. Republicans cannot get lazy or inconsistent with their messaging. Picking the right candidates still matters, as does choosing the winning talking points.
On that front, Republicans only need to look back to 2016. That year, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton because he focused primarily on two issues: The economy and immigration. Economic recovery and border security became the two prevailing themes of the Trump platform. Six years ago, American voters overwhelmingly trusted Republicans to deliver on budget deficits, government regulations, and taxes. At the same time, the Trump campaign leveraged slogans like “build the wall” in response to growing concerns about illegal immigration. Republicans made border security a “dominant” issue—and it worked.
The same blueprint applies in 2022, and to an even greater degree. Today’s economy is even worse than the one inherited by the Trump administration after the Obama years. The U.S. inflation rate is nearing 10 percent, while economic growth is nonexistent. Employers are struggling to hire workers, and a recession looms.
Then there’s illegal immigration, which has exploded under President Biden. Because of the Biden administration’s open-borders agenda, the U.S.-Mexico border crisis is at its most critical point in decades. After setting a record for illegal border crossings in 2021 (with 1.7 million), the United States is expected to see even more in 2022—more than 2 million. States like Arizona, California, and Texas will be flooded, with drug crime sure to follow. In March alone, law enforcement officials arrested hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Meanwhile, Democrats seem incapable of or uninterested in solving the problem. The Biden administration is giving away free phones to illegal immigrants, while Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refuses to denounce illegal immigration. In his words, the goal is simply to “increase access” to American soil. Tone-deafness mixed with radical Leftism.
The Biden platform runs contrary to the wishes of most Americans who still believe in enforcing U.S. laws. Sixty percent of American voters are now concerned about illegal immigration, providing Republicans with an even clearer mandate to promote border security. At a time when illegal immigrants pine for more government benefits at the expense of American taxpayers, the Republican Party needs to draw a clear line between common sense and the radical Left.
Conservatives often overcomplicate their messaging, and there’s no need. Focus on pocketbook issues. Propose solutions to the growing inflation problem. Cut back on government spending. Introduce pro-market reforms that benefit employers and employees in an unstable labor market. Make the connection between illegal immigration and elevated crime, especially in southern parts of the country.
Most Americans—all good-faith Americans—want their elected officials to keep things simple. Grow the economy. Stop illegal immigration. Reduce crime. Those must be the pillars of today’s Republican Party, given the electoral success they’ve produced for Republicans of the past. This is the window of opportunity for common sense.
Keep things simple, and the red wave will become a tsunami in November. Stick to a smart platform, and Republicans will win the White House come 2024. Victory becomes inevitable.
Ted Harvey serves as chairman of the Committee to Defeat the President.
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