Copy Effective Campaign Tricks from 2016 When Donald Trump was running for his first term, many conservatives were worried. Notably, they were concerned about whether Trump was as conservative as he claimed, particularly regarding judicial nomi- nees. To assuage those concerns, he presented a list of potential Supreme Court nominees and prom- ised to pick from it. One of every four Trump voters told pollsters that concern about the courts determined their vote. Trump should consider naming potential justices and cabinet offi- cials. The move could help voters feel confident about what a second Trump administration would accom- plish and could generate excite- ment about moving the country in a better direction. Republicans should forcefully communicate a unified message, have the courage to take on corrupt media, and prepare a laser-focus on “get out the vote” operations. Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is a senior editor at The Federalist. She is Senior Journalism Fellow at Hillsdale College. A Fox News contributor, she is a regular member of the Fox News All-Stars panel on “Special Report with Bret Baier.” Mollie was a 2004 recipient of a Phillips Foundation Journalism Fellowship and a 2014 Lincoln Fellow of the Claremont Institute.
tion the framing and language that the media uses and forcefully high- light its lies when engaging with it. Fight Lawfare Democrats are engaged in a coor- dinated strategy to bankrupt and imprison their top political oppo- nents through “lawfare.” They even attempted to remove the Repub- lican candidate from the ballot, a move reminiscent of tin-pot dicta- torships or other corrupt countries, which was stopped by the Supreme Court in a rare 9-0 decision. Other legally preposterous cases have been brought by Democrat prose- cutors in New York, Arizona, Georgia, and Washington, DC. In several cases, these prosecutors won their perch by campaigning on promises to engage in lawfare against Republicans. This lawfare strategy violates all norms against using courts to punish politi- cal opponents. Republican voters need to send a loud, clear message to their repre- sentatives in Washington that they must get serious about fighting back against the weaponization of the justice system by Democrats to win elections. After the FBI raided Trump’s home in Florida, former Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said the Justice Department had reached “an intol- erable state of weaponized politici- zation” and told Attorney General Merrick Garland to “preserve your documents and clear your calen- dar” for Republican congress- ional investigations.
Yet, the GOP-led House of Repre- sentatives has done next to noth- ing to hold the Justice Department accountable for prosecuting Trump for allegedly harboring classified documents, even though Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton were excused for worse instances of committing the same supposed crime. Criminally charging one’s opponents to win elections is the real threat to democ- racy, and voters need to demand that Republicans in Washington fight this with everything they’ve got. Clearly Articulate Policy Goals Before the 2022 midterm elections, which proved disappointing for Republicans, Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected calls to release a platform of what Repub- licans would do if they were given control of Congress. His claim was that focusing on Biden’s deficiencies would be sufficient for victory. While it’s true that Americans are deeply dissatisfied with Democrat policies, it’s not true that this dissat- isfaction translates into Republican votes. Republicans must explain how they’re different from Democrats and how that difference will help improve the lives of voters. This task is made more difficult when Republi- cans in the House and Senate vote to advance Democrat policy goals. Still, the recently elected Republicans in the House and Senate are articu- lating domestic and foreign policy goals that are more in touch with average Americans.
Volume 18 Issue 3 • 09
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