OPINION:
If you have been paying attention to media reports, you know that many politicians — including some Republicans and those often-wrong pollsters — believe the November elections are a foregone conclusion.
According to them, Democrats will win a House majority and possibly take over the Senate too. History proves it, they say, because the party out of power almost always is victorious in midterms.
Except when it is not.
Two recent examples should give Republicans hope. In 1994, the year many people remember, a “Republican Revolution” headed by Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia and his “Contract with America,” captured the House and the Senate for the first time in 40 years.
So-called experts predicted narrow losses for President Clinton and congressional Democrats. The key was Mr. Gingrich’s optimism and a detailed agenda, which could fit on a postcard.
In the 2002 midterms, Republicans again bucked the historical trend, gaining seats in both chambers in the post-9/11 political climate.
What Republicans must do this year, if they want to keep and even expand their congressional majorities, is get inoculated with a heavy dose of optimism.
In addition to attacking the radical ideas of people such as Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed — in a Fox News interview Monday night, Mr. El-Sayed equated Shariah with Catholic canon law and circumcision with child sex changes — Republicans must learn to accentuate the positive.
Younger voters especially need to learn why capitalism is better than socialism and why promises of free stuff by the left will come at a huge cost.
Republicans should feature in political ads and during live appearances people who have emerged from socialist and communist countries. They could testify about the virtues of the capitalist system.
In Florida, a large Cuban community knows what communism was like under the Castro brothers and the current leadership. Some of them could go on a tour and be featured in live appearances, or at least have their stories recorded and included in campaign ads.
Havana is having trouble keeping the lights on and providing food for the people.
Most individuals have formed opinions about transgender athletes in women’s sports (which worked for Republicans in the last election), so minimize that issue and focus more on the power each of us possesses. It is the power of individual initiative and persistence, and it has sustained America for 250 years.
Because Democrats and socialists love to attack billionaires, do some campaign ads that feature some of them talking about how they began their careers with little and now have businesses that employ many people — people who pay taxes and do not rely on government welfare.
Many Black Americans have similar stories to tell. The media mostly ignore them, but rags-to-riches testimonies have been the bedrock of America’s history.
Bring up the unnecessary and wasteful government programs that should be eliminated. Yes, it is worth a DOGE 2.0. People hate waste, especially when it comes to their tax dollars.
Promise a rebate to every taxpayer when the size and cost of government are reduced. Make a case for reforming Social Security and Medicare to preserve the programs for current and future generations.
News stories suggest that Democrats are already plotting to investigate President Trump and his family should they win a congressional majority. Fine, but how would that help individual Americans get back on track after the Biden-caused inflation, which drove gas and other prices higher than they are now?
Pollsters, the modern equivalent of soothsayers, are increasingly wrong. Perhaps some voters will decide not to vote at all in November, believing the election is a fait accompli.
Pessimism is a destination that leads to defeat. Optimism can lead to victory. Republicans need to try the latter and reduce the negative.
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).
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