NEW NRCC Debt Ceiling Memo: “Dems Tied Themselves to an Anchor and Threw It Overboard”
House Republicans won the debt ceiling & spending debate, and the NRCC plans to make “vulnerable Democrats pay a price for doubling down on an extreme and unpopular position.”
How? Read the full memo released by the NRCC today here and see quick round up of highlights below:
POLLING SUGGESTS DEMOCRATS TIED THEMSELVES TO AN ANCHOR AND THREW IT OVERBOARD.
Most Americans agree with the House Republican position that our country spends too much. After feeling the effects of Democrats’ reckless spending as inflation hammered family budgets, responsible spending reforms are broadly popular. Voters believe the debt ceiling is the right opportunity to have a conversation about getting this problem under control, and they disagree with President Biden and House Democrats that the debt ceiling should be raised without any corresponding reforms.
Democrats should look no further than the public’s changing perceptions of our top political leaders to demonstrate this issue is a political loser. President Biden’s already-anemic approval ratings have dropped to the lowest levels of his presidency in some polls – but the downward trendline is unmistakable. And one recent poll shows Speaker McCarthy’s approval rating at an all-time high, adding 14 points to the Speaker’s positive ratings since January.
REPUBLICANS ARE SHARPENING OUR KNIVES.
The Committee already ran ads in the districts of 35 vulnerable House Democrats – nearly all of its identified pickup opportunities for the 2024 cycle. These ad flights represent a road test for Republican messaging through next fall presenting Democrats as extreme and unserious about fixing a problem they created.
THIS ISSUE IS NOT GOING AWAY.
The NRCC considers it a major tactical blunder that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries forced his vulnerable Members to go on record for a “clean” debt ceiling hike. This dead-on- arrival measure is opposed by broad majorities of Americans, including large numbers of Democratic voters. Voters equate a “clean” hike to continuing the country’s unsustainable spending trajectory. Politically, this represents a fresh opportunity to remind voters that Democrats spent trillions of dollars on wasteful projects with total Democratic control of Washington, spiking inflation and hurting their personal pocketbooks. Coupled with House Democrats’ unanimous vote against the Limit, Save, Grow Act – the ads write themselves.
Republicans will continue to press our advantage on this issue to show voters that Democrats are extreme, reckless, and too dangerous to trust with a House majority. Vulnerable Democrats may have surrendered their voting cards to party leaders during the debt ceiling debate, but they will hand over their voting cards to a Republican when they are defeated next fall.