The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a stark warning to its members in a recent memo obtained by Politico: Republicans' so-called culture war attacks are proving "alarmingly potent" on everything from critical race theory to defunding the police, and Democrats must confront the attacks directly.
Using a combination of polling and focus groups, the DCCC found that simply ignoring GOP offensives was a mistake, and the memo encouraged Democrats to offer quick and strong rebuttals. So if, for instance, candidates face a "defund the police" attack, the DCCC is encouraging them to reiterate their support for police.
Internal polling found Democrats running behind Republicans by four points in the generic ballot—a couple points worse than FiveThirtyEight’s aggregate. But here's the bleakest part of the Politico report (stick with me for a brief discussion on the other side):
If Democrats don’t answer Republican hits, the party operatives warned, the GOP’s lead on the generic ballot balloons to 14 points from 4 points — a dismal prediction for Democrats when the GOP only needs to win five seats to seize back the majority. But when voters heard a Democratic response to that hit, Republicans’ edge narrowed back down to 6 points, giving candidates more of a fighting chance, especially since those numbers don’t factor in Democrats going on the offensive.
The notion that offering direct rebuttals to GOP attacks blunts the fallout to just a 6-point Democratic deficit doesn't exactly inspire confidence—especially when, in the main, those GOP attacks are entirely bogus.
So yes, Democrats, respond directly, and then pivot—immediately. There's no reason Democrats should spend the bulk of 2022 on defense when the Republican Party just spent two weeks debating whether an armed insurrection targeting U.S. lawmakers was a "legitimate" protest.
Democrats, including the DCCC, must put a significant amount of energy into demonstrating just how radical the Republican Party has become on everything from abortion to guns to the economy and even the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. Republicans have truly given Democrats an embarrassment of riches to work with, but Democrats absolutely must focus on making the case to voters. Just to scratch the surface, here are several key issues that can absolutely work in Democrats’ favor.
1) Abortion—the GOP-packed Supreme Court is likely to gut Roe v. Wade and turn back the clock a century on women's rights. Every single Democratic candidate and incumbent should be talking about the issue and trying to nail down their opponent's position on the upcoming ruling and any current bills in their home state. OUTLAWING ABORTION IS NOT A WINNING ISSUE FOR REPUBLICANS IN SWING STATES AND DISTRICTS—AND THEY KNOW IT.
2) Crime and "law and order"—Republicans want to talk about the rising crime rate and how Democrats supposedly don't support police. Okay, how about passing gun reforms? If Republicans are worried about crime, why do they oppose super basic gun measures like passing background checks?
Also, if Republicans are so big on law and order, how do they feel about pardoning the Jan. 6 seditionists who bludgeoned police officers, as Trump has promised? And do they support the national GOP's embrace of the deadly Jan. 6 attack as "legitimate political discourse"? EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN SHOULD BE FORCED TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS BECAUSE THEY SPLIT TRUMP-SUBURBAN VOTERS.
3) Education—Why are Democrats taking the brunt of the education debate when Republicans are enacting parental censorship of curricula and promoting book bans and book burnings? Data for Progress just released polling that found 71% of likely voters don't support giving local school boards the power to ban books, including 66% of independents and 64% of Republicans. EVERY TIME A REPUBLICAN BRINGS UP CRITICAL RACE THEORY, THEY SHOULD BE ASKED WHETHER THEY SUPPORT CENSORSHIP, BOOK BANS, AND GIVING ONE PARENT VETO POWER OVER THE EDUCATION OF ANOTHER PARENT’S KID.
4) Vaccines, masking—There are a million ways to tease out the GOP's anti-vaxx, anti-mask policies, which have not only cost lives, but have also hobbled the economic recovery, efforts to keep schools open, etc. Here's the bottom line—PROMOTING PERSONAL FREEDOMS THAT POSE A MENACE TO THE 70% OF AMERICANS WHO HAVE GOTTEN VACCINATED ISN'T POPULAR.
5) The economy—If Republicans are so concerned about the economy, why did they vote against funding to keep small businesses afloat in the American Rescue Plan?
If they're supposedly concerned about American families, why did they all uniformly oppose increasing the child tax credit—an actual tax cut for American families?! REPUBLICANS UNIFORMLY VOTED AGAINST A TAX CUT FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES AND HELPING SMALL BUSINESSES SURVIVE THE PANDEMIC.
Honestly, this is just the tip of iceberg, but Republicans are now a radicalized party that exists outside mainstream American values on almost every issue that will be relevant in this year's midterms. The fact that Republicans are running several points ahead in the generic ballot suggests Democrats simply are not connecting on the issues that matter most to voters. But Democrats certainly shouldn't spend all their time rebutting Republican attacks when nearly every GOP policy is designed to appeal to like one-third of Americans.
There’s plenty of fodder Democratic candidates can use to paint Republicans into a corner; they just need to pick their issues and go on offense.