National Republican Senate Committee Chairman, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), unveiled an 11-point agenda for candidates running in the 2022 midterm elections, and the plan provides key insights into the Republican strategy.
The packet, obtained by Politico, revealed that Scott’s aim is to appeal to both fiscal conservatives and counter-culture warriors.
Key points are parental rights in education, scrapping “racial politics” on government documents, tough crime policies, shrinking the size of the bureaucracy, border security, fiscal conservatism, federal government term limits, election integrity, promoting the nuclear family, pro-life policies, religious freedom, and prioritizing American interests first on a global scale.
While most of these points are conservative mainstays, it’s clear that some are geared toward winning over crucial independent voters who can put Republicans over the top in November.
For starters, the push for school choice and more parental control in education helped Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) gain support among some suburban voters, which ultimately helped him flip the governor’s office last year. School choice is typically pushed by Republicans, but the coronavirus pandemic exposed disparities in the public education system as well as a leftist agenda being taught in many districts, which infuriated parents across the political spectrum.
Second, unsurprisingly, Scott made it clear that the party would ideally “stop all efforts to defund or ‘re-imagine’ policing” if they were posed at the federal level. People are still on edge after the riots that took place following the death of George Floyd in 2020, and there is also a nationwide violent crime wave, according to the Wall Street Journal. Cities feel more unsafe, and average Americans outside of them are wondering when that instability will seep into their community.
However, two of the most interesting points from the plan can be found in the government reform section. The document states that Republicans will likely push for 12-year term limits for members of Congress and “government bureaucrats,” unless it is for national security reasons. It also proposes that legislation “sunsets,” or expires, after five years. If Congress wants the legislation to remain in effect, it would have to “pass it again.” A practice such as this would force Congress to review past legislation under the current political lens of the time.
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There are currently 50 Republican senators and 48 Democratic senators, with two independents who work with Democrats. Democrats currently hold the majority because of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the tie-breaking vote.
The Senate races in Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada are all considered toss-ups, according to CNN, and all those seats are currently held by Democrats. Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina are also considered competitive, but “tilt Republican.”
Politico noted that Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did not want to put out a plan like the one Scott published, because the Kentucky senator seems to hold the opinion that it would be more effective to focus primarily on the failures of Democrats, rather than explaining what Republicans stand for.
In theory, Scott’s agenda could give the Democrats ammo. But it may not be the worst thing to have an outline for candidates to look toward to as they head into the general election.
