GOP Leaders Preparing 'Contract With America 2.0' Ahead of Fall Midterms

GOP Leaders Preparing 'Contract With America 2.0' Ahead of Fall Midterms


Ahead of the 1994 midterms during then-President Bill Clinton’s first term, Republicans rallied around a concept called the “Contract With America,” a set of policy proposals the party guaranteed to push if they were returned to power.

Championed by then-House Minority Leader Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), the concept worked: Republicans took several seats in the Senate and were resoundingly returned to the majority in the House for the first time in 40 years.

Now, the party is working on a ‘Contract With America 2.0’ as Republican incumbents and candidates gear up to make another massive push to regain the majority from Democrats who are pushing unpopular initiatives and who are being led by an increasingly unpopular president in Joe Biden.

Gingrich on Friday said that Republicans are “preparing to make history” if they retake control of the chamber this fall, which looks increasingly likely given President Joe Biden’s tanking approval ratings and recent surveys showing generic Republican candidates beating Democrats in down-ballot races.

“With Leader Kevin McCarthy’s determined, methodical, and systematic leadership, House Republicans are preparing to make history – fully as much as the Contract with America Republicans did in 1994,” Gingrich wrote in a piece published on Friday.

“McCarthy and his team are developing a Commitment to America,” Gingrich wrote.

Just the News added:

Republicans in 1994 campaigned on a Contract with America, which was partially written by then-Georgia Rep. Gingrich. The contract laying out GOP legislative plans led to Republicans gaining 9 Senate seats and 54 House seats, making the GOP the majority in the House for the first time in 40 years.

“Having participated with Ronald Reagan’s efforts in 1980, the 1994 Contract, and John Boehner’s successful 2010 campaign to retake the House, I can report that McCarthy’s effort is the largest, most inclusive, and most systematic issue development effort I have ever seen,” he said.

With rising inflation, the Republican “battle cry” this fall will be “we can’t afford it,” Gingrich said.

“It is a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reach people who have never been Republican but find themselves in pain every week trying to make ends meet,” the former House Speaker wote. “They simply can’t afford the Democrats’ insane policies.”

Just the News further notes:

Inflation is at a nearly 40-year high under the Biden administration while the average cost of a gallon of gas is $4.24, according to AAA.

The top House Republicans are much younger than the top House Democrats, making the win a generational change, Gingrich pointed out.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 82, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is 82 and House Majority Leader James Clyburn is 81, making the top Democrats’ average age 82.

On the other hand, McCarthy is 57, Minority Whip Steve Scalise is 56 and House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik is 37, making the top Republicans’ average age 50.

“They want to turn Republicans into the party of innovation and the party of the future,” Gingrich continued.

“McCarthy wants to focus on four major goals: Safe communities, a secure economy, success for our kids, and accountability in government,” Gingrich noted, adding: “More importantly, it could be the largest American Majority our country has ever seen.”


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