GOP hopes all their losing arguments from last election will work next time

House Republicans have a plan to win back the majority next year: They’ll reuse the same unpopular arguments that did not work in 2020.

In an interview with Politico on Tuesday, National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Emmer revealed his strategy to elect a GOP majority in 2022.

“We’re gonna talk about all the stuff that matters to people,” the Minnesota congressman said. “We’ll follow through on a game plan.”

Emmer then said the GOP roadmap to gaining at least five seats in the 2022 midterms would include attacking Democrats as socialists who want to kill jobs, protecting the fossil fuel industry, and pushing to reopen schools in the middle of pandemic.

If this sounds familiar, it’s become Donald Trump and congressional Republicans used much the same strategy last fall as they lost the White House and their Senate majority.

Trump falsely claimed President Joe Biden is a “socialist.” The House Republicans sold anti-socialism bumper stickers and “Trump trumps Socialism” T-shirts. Two Georgia Republican senators unsuccessfully hammered their Democratic opponents as “radical socialists.”

Republicans also made reopening everything, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and fealty to the fossil fuel industry key campaign issues.

Polling has shown that the public is not with the GOP on these and other issues.

While Republicans have used remote learning and school closures to attack teachers, polls conducted throughout the pandemic have shown most Americans do not want to rush back to totally in-person learning until it is safe to do so.

As Biden and congressional Democrats have pushed a massive pandemic relief plan that would include more than $170 billion for schools — money needed to make safer reopening possible — Republicans have unanimously opposed their efforts.

Polling has also shown that the GOP’s focus on dirty energy is not what the public wants, as Americans demand government action to address climate change.

A survey published last month found 66% of registered voters want development of clean energy to be a “high” or “very high” priority for the federal government. Even 43% of Republicans shared those sentiments.

While Republicans continue to try what failed for them last time and hope for a different result, a January poll showed that their plan to obstruct Biden’s agenda and call Democrats mean names is the exact opposite of what voters want.

According to Monmouth University, 71% of Americans want Republicans in Congress to work together with Biden to solve the nation’s problems. Just 25% want the GOP minority to be a check on the president and his agenda.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.