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you → send → this
Today, we bring you a memo sent to Republican candidates urging them to set out a clear economic message or face a midterm wipeout.
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we → bring → wipeout
Plus, we had fun with Mike Pence and David Rubenstein, D.C.’s newest odd couple …
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we → have → Pence
Socialist messaging on affordability is resonating with voters, and Republicans must find their own populist economic policies to avoid disaster in the midterm elections.
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Republicans → resonate → elections
That is the stark warning to candidates in a memo that the American Principles Project is circulating to candidates
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Project → circulate → candidates
The strategy document, shared with Secrets, explains that culture war issues — such as attacking what it calls the “left’s gender radicalism” — poll well with voters, but will not be enough to save the House or the Senate.
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it → share → House
It criticizes Republicans for a sales pitch to voters on the economy that is “at best unclear.”
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that → criticize → economy
“I think this is existential,” said Terry Schilling, president of APP.
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Schilling → think → APP
“I really do.”
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I → do → ?
APP focuses on promoting socially conservative public policies centered on the family.
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APP → focus → family
And Schilling was an informal adviser to JD Vance before he became vice president.
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he → become → Vance
His PAC was the first to run ads on trans athletes in women’s sports in 2019, but he said the messaging had to change as Americans worry about gas prices, paying for college, and healthcare.
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Americans → run → college
“To successfully fend off Democrat attacks, GOP candidates must be able to articulate their own agenda on how they plan to address families’ economic concerns,” the memo says.
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memo → fend → concerns
“If voters are not provided with an alternative, there is a serious risk that the false promises of socialism will continue to gain ground—and not just in this upcoming midterm.”
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promises → provide → midterm
This time around, strategists believe the best approach is to turn the midterm into a “contrast election,” avoiding the danger of a referendum on a president whose approval ratings are at historic lows.
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ratings → believe → lows
And while Republicans have found a rich vein to mine of Democrats espousing radical socialist views, candidates promising vegan campaigns, or campaigning with anti-Israel podcaster Hasan Piker, or promoting gender-affirming surgeries, the memo suggests they are not keeping up their end of the contrast.
“We’re doing great on fighting the Democrats on the culture war and showing just how crazy they are, but right now we’re not appealing enough to working class families and young people, and that’s a big problem,” Schilling said.
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Schilling → find → families
“We can grow our base of persuadable voters immensely if we just care and start addressing the economic concerns of working families and young people.”
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we → grow → families
The memo says Republicans face “significant headwinds” because they hold the White House and are almost certain to suffer losses.
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they → say → losses
“But even at this late hour, the past need not be prologue,” it says.
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it → say → hour
Transgender issues still poll well for Republicans.
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issues → poll → Republicans
The memo lays out how messages on Democrats’ support for men in women’s sports and spaces shifted the margin up to 6.6 percentage points towards the GOP, when the group tested them.
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group → lay → them
And new messaging, connecting Democrats’ opposition to mental health treatment for gender dysphoria with violence carried out by mentally distressed individuals who identify as transgender, was just as persuasive.
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who → connect → individuals
“Republicans must also make the case to families on what they plan to do to help improve their economic standing,” it concludes.
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it → make → standing
“To win in 2026, GOP candidates will need to both highlight Democrats’ cultural radicalism while also proposing a compelling economic alternative.”
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candidates → win → alternative
David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, said voters were less focused on trans issues this year.
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voters → say → issues
“The energy for that was higher in ’24 than it is now, and I think the reason for that is not that people care less about the issue itself, it’s more that they care a lot more about the economic issues,” he said during a lunchtime briefing, over slices of steak and sliders.
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he → think → steak
Schilling said he was realistic about likely midterm losses, but that Republicans were losing a chance to lay down a clear marker with positive messaging about their plans.
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Republicans → say → plans
He contrasted that with the way that Democrats were promising “everything under the sun”.
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Democrats → contrast → sun
Abdul el Sayed, he said, was running for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, by promising that Medicare for All was going to pay for sex changes for children.
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Medicare → say → children
“He was completely comfortable, completely confident in talking about this.
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He → talk → this
That’s an incredibly unpopular strategy,” he said.
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he → ’ → ?
“Working families don’t want to pay for this.
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families → work → this
They don’t want kids getting it.
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kids → want → it
But he’s saying it because he’s getting across the message that he cares.”
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he → say → message
You are reading Washington Secrets, a guide to power and politics in D.C. and beyond.
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You → read → D.C.
It is written by Rob Crilly, who you can reach at [email protected] with your comments, story tips, and suggestions.
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you → write → comments
Mike Pence, the former vice president, made an appearance at the Economic Club of Washington to talk about his new book, where he was interviewed on stage by noted non-conservative David Rubenstein, the private equity billionaire and philanthropist.
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he → make → Rubenstein
The result was knockabout fun, with Rubenstein repeatedly teeing up Pence with awkward questions, only for the vice president to deliver the punchlines.
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president → tee → punchlines
They began as they went on.
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they → begin → ?
Rubenstein: “Tomorrow, you just reminded me is Constitution Day. What do you think about the U.S. Constitution in terms of honoring the way it’s written?
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it → remind → way
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
