GOP handed new lifeline on biggest pocketbook fight of midterms

The conservative group Club for Growth is circulating new messaging to Republicans in Congress ahead of the November midterms, arguing that high living costs remain voters' top concern and that blame should fall on federal government expansion rather than the inflation rate itself. In a memo sent Friday, the group tells lawmakers that Americans are not asking whether inflation has slowed but why everyday goods still cost more, and it points to deficit spending, subsidies, mandates and supply restrictions as the real drivers of higher prices. The materials specifically direct Republicans to highlight the rapid growth of the federal government under the Biden administration during the COVID-19 pandemic as a contrast, according to Fox News.

Alongside the two-page memo, Club for Growth distributed a 76-page policy packet urging Republicans to campaign on measures it says would actually reduce costs, including cutting spending, expanding energy production, increasing housing construction, boosting healthcare competition and loosening restrictions on work. The memo describes the free-market approach as one that lets families choose and workers earn, while building and producing more.

The push comes as midterm elections are typically viewed as a referendum on the party in power, making the strategy a risk for Republicans as they try to defend narrow majorities in the House and Senate. But the guidance also gives the party an economic platform to campaign on if it retains control of Congress, offering a way to pitch cost-of-living relief to voters rather than simply defending against Democratic attacks on affordability.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →