ArcaMax

One week after the Republican midterm election debacle, questions about how it happened while sorting through the debris that left Democrats in charge of Congress, many governorships and state legislators will likely continue for some time. If the election had been solely about the many achievements of the Trump administration – from closing the border, deporting criminals and cutting taxes – Republicans would likely have won. Instead, Republicans fielded weak candidates, mostly picked by President Trump, who were subservient to his corrosive personality and need to be worshiped, turning off many voters more concerned with gas and food prices and his vacillation about Iran.

Chief among the reasons Republicans lost, I think, is their failure to recall a line from the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: “First you win the argument, then you win the vote.” The problem for Republicans this cycle was they not only failed to win the argument; they never made the argument and thus lost the vote.

In odious GOP TV ads that ran back to back with equally obnoxious Democrat ads, there was little about issues at the top of voters’ minds. They mostly attacked their opponent and made promises voters should have known they can’t keep. Each candidate called the other everything but an American. Our real enemies are not subject to such vile words.

My reaction to these ads was to hit the mute bottom and look away. I suspect I was not alone. According to Open Secrets, an independent organization that tracks campaign finance, a n estimated $12 billion was spent on this campaign (Elon Musk donated $446 million). In Texas, a half-billion dollars was spent with Musk contributing $225 million. The $12 billion total is greater than the annual discretionary budgets and total budgetary resources of multiple individual Cabinet-level departments for Fiscal Year 2026. No amount of money can replace good ideas and good character. This year’s election should finally prove that. The consultants who claim negative ads win should not be hired for the 2028 contest, but likely will, unfortunately.

Back to Margaret Thatcher, who believed that lasting political change can’t be solely achieved through short-term maneuvering or superficial public relations. Thatcher embraced ideological clarity and deep preparation over consensus-driven, or reactive politics.

In the past whether a candidate was “soft on communism” was sometimes a winning issue for Republicans, but the past – even the recent past – is not enough. Young people did not experience the Cold War, Soviet communism and the threat of nuclear annihilation. Think of this: A new generation has grown up since the 9/11/01 terrorist attack. Students are being taught things, especially at liberal universities, that are contrary to the economic, political, social and moral standards which have sustained this country through what my parents’ generation used to call “thick and thin.”

Reaching younger people was what Charlie Kirk was doing with great success until he was murdered. Kirk visited college campuses with his “prove me wrong” tour. Through rational argument and deconstructing the beliefs students had been taught were true, Kirk was changing minds. That could have contributed to his murder. It almost certainly contributed to the hate directed at him by some on the left who worried they might lose a significant part of their base.

Republicans can’t take for granted that the ideas of especially previous generations will automatically be accepted by younger people who get their “news” mostly from TikTok and other social media platforms. Many also seem to succumb to pressure from friends to conform to a secular-progressive ideology.

A TV ad for the Progressive insurance company has this tag line: “Progressive can’t protect you from becoming your parents…” Given how my parents and grandparents lived by different standards than today’s entitlement generation, becoming like those people is looking better all the time.

First, however, Republicans must make and then win the argument.

========

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks).

©2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.