Newt Gingrich, the one-time history professor whose insights in 1994 about the American electorate helped Republicans gain control of the House for the first time in 40 years, thinks he’s got a plan that will return Congress to Republican control in 2022. His research has revealed that there are multiple unifying issues that concern all Americans and that Republicans are the ones with the more appealing platforms regarding those arguments.

Gingrich appeared on John Solomon’s podcast to discuss how he thinks Republicans can readily regain Congress in 2022. According to Gingrich, there are 16 issues that bind Americans together. Indeed, 85% of voters are in accord as to these issues, with only a left fringe opposing the majority viewpoint.

The most obvious issue is defunding the police, which Americans strongly oppose.

The most interesting thing Gingrich and his team discovered while working with Larry Kudlow is that Americans haven’t really bought into socialism, although they think they’ve been alienated from capitalism. However, if you frame the two political systems by talking about liberty versus big government, people suddenly view them differently.

In fact, it turns out that they support capitalism and oppose socialism, but only if the issue is phrased quite specifically as “free-market capitalism versus big government socialism.” This insight means that the Republicans can attack the $3.5 trillion Democrat boondoggle by referring to it as “big government socialism.” Throwing around abstract words or phrases will fail while specific definitions will help people evaluate policies.

What this means is that, as Gingrich wrote on his website,

In the next few weeks, Republicans have an opportunity to rebrand the Democrats as Big Government Socialists.

[snip]

Every Democratic senator and representative has already voted for the outline of Senator Bernie Sanders’ $3.5 trillion Big Government Socialist bill. No matter what lies they tell back home about being moderates, their names are right there on pages S6237 (Aug. 10) and H4371 (Aug. 24) of the Congressional Record. When it mattered there were no moderate Democrats. The only Democrats serving in Congress were unanimously willing to vote for Big Government Socialism.

The Big Government Socialist brand will isolate the Washington Democrats from their own moderates and from the rest of the country. Faced with this clear betrayal of their values, millions of grassroots Democrats will find themselves having to organize a moderate wing of the Democratic Party (something Bill Clinton tried to do as governor of Arkansas in the 1980s).

[snip]

The polling is clear and devastating for the Big Government Socialist Democrats. Americans in general favor Free Market Capitalism over Big Government Socialism by a huge margin (59 percent to 16 percent). Among swing voters, there is an almost 5:1 advantage for Free Market Capitalism over Big Government Socialism (82 percent to 18 percent).

Another one of the big sixteen common principles that Gingrich explained to Solomon ties together Americans is race: It turns out that, despite the left’s efforts to force Critical Race Theory on America, 91% of Americans support the Martin Luther King view of race in America. That is, they want a world in which people are judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.

Of course, we’re currently looking at a Republican political class that too often seems to be more interested in D.C. politics and pleasant relationships with the Democrats who openly despise them than with American well-being. And when it comes to race, no Republicans have the courage to say anything that would allow Democrats to holler, “Racist!”

It remains to be seen whether Republicans be able to take advantage of the opportunity that Gingrich is putting before them. As Gingrich asks at his web page:

When facing hostile, distracting questions from leftwing television reporters, can Republicans discipline themselves to constantly point out that the $3.5 trillion bill was written by an avowed socialist and is Big Government Socialism?

When face–to–face with Democratic incumbents, can the Republicans muster the courage and discipline to stick to facts and hammer away that “on this date you voted for a $3.5 trillion Big Government Socialist Bill and that makes you a Big Government Socialist?”

Finally, can Republican Party officials, activists, and candidates focus on communicating that Democrats have become Big Government Socialists – and that the old moderate Democratic Party has been replaced by a new radical party?

I’m sorry to be a downer here, but I have my doubts that our current crop of Republicans will be able to do any of the things needed to rout the Democrats from Congress. If voters reject Democrats and give Congress back to the Republicans, that will happen in spite of, not because of, our ostensibly conservative political class.

Image: Newt Gingrich. YouTube screen grab.

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