AMAC Exclusive – By Seamus Brennan
In the closing days of campaign season, Republicans have unmistakably retained single issue superiority at almost every level—particularly given crippling levels of inflation, the worst border crisis in American history, and skyrocketing crime rates. But to be most effective in winning over voters, GOP candidates’ closing message ought to explain why Democrat members of Congress and state-level officeholders would vote so completely in favor of policies that have generated these crises. In other words, Republicans need to give voters what they crave most—context, and a narrative to accompany it.
The GOP should make explicit what voters implicitly know—and Democrats, in the ultimate political boomerang, have handed them precisely the catchword to explain it. For the bulk of the campaign cycle, rather than focusing on the multitude of issues on the minds of ordinary American citizens, Democrats have opted to highlight the supposed “extremism” of Republicans as a last-ditch effort to circumvent a much-anticipated red wave. Seen most memorably in Joe Biden’s now-infamous September 1 remarks in Philadelphia all the way up to his Wednesday speech at Washington’s Union Station, in which he indignantly smeared half the country as an existential “threat to democracy” (again) and virtually declared Republican voters to be enemies of the state, Democrats have spared no effort in leveling charges of extremism against their political opponents. But although Democrats may have first injected the “extremism” theme into the campaign, in the closing days and weeks of the election season, the tables have turned—and the left’s groundless charges of “extremism” can serve as the political boomerang Republicans can use to cement their congressional majorities on Tuesday.
It is no surprise that President Donald Trump has adopted the “extremism” theme at many of his recent signature rallies. And as he and other party leaders have been quick to point out, the left’s extremist streak extends far beyond just the economy and the border crisis. A recent Trafalgar/AMAC Newsline poll found that a staggering 93.2 percent of Hispanic voters reject the Biden administration’s gender lunacy, and surveys show that hot-button cultural issues like Critical Race Theory continue to drive voter backlash against liberal politicians. But unlike Democrats, Republicans have by and large refused to recognize the political potency of the “extremist” word—and at their own peril.
One conservative group, however, did pick up the “extremism” theme in the late summer. In a series of TV ads targeted against five incumbent Senate Democrats in New York, Arizona, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Nevada, a conservative Super PAC brought the “extremism” theme to the forefront of midterm campaign rhetoric. The ads display an image of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other members of “The Squad” with the headline “CORRUPT BARGAIN,” suggesting that the far-left wing of the Democrat Party and its billionaire donors have scared Senate Democrats like Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) into pivoting further to the left than their constituents wanted. Labeling each candidate as Joe Biden’s “key enabler” who votes with the president nearly 100 percent of the time, the ads castigate each incumbent as the “deciding vote in the Senate” who had the power to stop any number of Biden-induced disasters but refused to do so.
“It’s very important to control the word ‘extremist,’” said George Landrith, president of the group. “The ‘extremist’ charge really cracks the code against Democrats… for the simple reason it’s the truth and the truth actually works in politics. Democrats’ voting records, Landrith continued, show that they “cared more about the approval of the media and the left-wingers who threatened [them] with a primary than that of [their] constituents.” These figures, despite how hard they may try, can’t claim to be moderates, Landrith insisted.
The ad first drew national attention when it was hailed by one conservative news outlet as the “greatest campaign ad of all time.” The Arizona media similarly credited the spot for “reviving” Republican senatorial candidate Blake Masters’ campaign. The ad has since been featured by the New Hampshire Journal and was tweeted by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters has himself adopted the PAC’s “extremist” theme.
As the ad suggests, Democrats’ leftward lurch in recent years can be largely accredited to Ocasio-Cortez’s subtle primary threats. But also important is her broader influence on Schumer and the entire Democratic Senate caucus—as seen when she famously did not rule out a 2022 primary challenge against the Senate Majority Leader. In the opinion of many, this led a frightened Schumer—who knew how many of his fellow New York Democrats have fallen to progressive challengers—to subsequently embrace the no-holds-barred extremism that has come to define the Democratic congressional agenda.
Since the ad began its five-state run in August, polls in key Senate races have continued to tighten—particularly in Arizona and New Hampshire, and even in New York, where Schumer has barely managed to cross the crucial 50 percent threshold. With just days to go before Election Day, it remains clear that Democrats never had a compelling midterm strategy—even after Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe’s (D-VA) loss to Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) last November. Should Republican candidates continue to drive this point home and wield the “extremist” charge in the waning days of the campaign, they could soon find that their majorities in the House and Senate will be far greater than they could have possibly expected.