Pollster John McLaughlin said Republicans are making a strategic mistake by not being more aggressive in highlighting the risks of allowing the 2017 Trump tax cuts to expire this year, explaining how recent polls he has conducted of voters across the country strongly suggest that the GOP possesses a winning message with taxes and other policy issues.
Last week, McLaughlin conducted a poll for the Club for Growth targeting 1,000 likely voters in 35 battleground congressional districts across the country currently held by Republicans.
The poll showed voters are strongly opposed to tax increases, support Congress cutting wasteful spending and balancing the budget, support work requirements and entitlement reform, and oppose benefits for illegal migrants.
McLaughlin argued that focusing on making the Trump tax cuts permanent, highlighting Democrats’ support for tax increases, and stressing common-sense reforms like Medicaid work requirements are politically advantageous and supported by strong polling data, but Republicans must unite and play offense on the winning policy issues.
He warned that if Republicans do not unify and focus on the policy issues that are popular with voters, they risk losing the messaging war.
“It’s a path to reelection for these members of Congress…Republicans are making a strategic mistake. They need to play offense, because every Democrat so far has voted against the budget plan in the House and the Senate for these tax cuts. That puts every Democrat running for Congress and Senate on record as supporting the largest tax increase in the history of America – $4.5 trillion – which will raise taxes to the average American over $2,000 a year,” McLaughlin explained on Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“The Republicans are busy fighting among ourselves…when we should be going after the Democrats and saying they are voting for the largest tax increase in the history of America,” he added.
McLaughlin further noted how President Donald Trump’s popularity among voters – which was found to be higher than some Republican candidates in different battleground districts – proves that GOP candidates who align closely with Trump’s policies are favored to succeed in midterm elections.
“Support the president. Vote for the tax cuts, make them permanent. The path is right here. It’s pretty simple,” McLaughlin stressed.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Mike Johnson and Donald Trump” by Mike Johnson.
