Whether or not Republicans manage to win a majority in the House in this fall’s elections, its important to understand what they’ll win if they choose to run without an agenda: no real mandate for their own policies.
Republicans, in the main, are right that their best strategy is running as not-Democrats because GOP policies still aren’t that popular. But make no mistake: Should they win the House, Republicans will try to claim a mandate — or at the very least, continue making the false case that the Democrats were undone by their liberal agenda. This won’t be true, but just as pundits continue to ignore research about how the economy affects public opinion of incumbent politicians, they’ll likely be glad to ignore the lack of clear ideas provided by the Republican Party.
— Tim Fernholz
