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How the House Republicans plan to spend the next month fighting to keep control of Congress

GOP memo lays out four-week battle plan ahead of midterms, focusing on border, fraud, economy, and public safety.

By mitch·4 min read
A campaign office desk piled with memos and a wall map of districts showing red and blue divisions.

House GOP leaders are sending a memo to Republicans nationwide, laying out a four-week battle plan ahead of the November midterm elections. The memo identifies four key topics: the border, fraudulent use of taxpayer dollars, the economy, and public safety.

Lisa McClain, R-Mich., who leads Republicans’ messaging strategy, said the memo focuses on what voters actually care about. “I think these are the points that the voters actually care most about,” she told Fox News Digital.

Four Weeks, Four Topics

The memo encourages Republicans to discuss protecting America by stopping illegal immigration, enforcing laws, and knowing who enters the country. It also pushes the party to highlight fraud, the economy, and public safety as top issues.

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Democrats are projected to win 215 seats compared to 201 for the GOP, needing just three more victories out of 19 possible toss-up races to clinch a majority. Republicans would need to win at least 17 of those races.

Cost-of-Living Concerns

McClain warned that Democrats’ high-tax policies would worsen Americans’ concerns about cost-of-living. She cited the low poverty rate and Trump’s new trade deals as positives the GOP could highlight.

She referenced Biden’s handling of high inflation during his term, saying “What we’re not going to do is gaslight the American people.” She argued the alternative under Democrats would be “absolutely terrifying” and noted every Democrat voted to raise taxes.

She echoed Trump’s promise that gas prices would drop once the Iran conflict ended, adding concern about Iran becoming a nuclear power.

Trump’s Polling

Trump’s favorability with Republican voters remains a high 79%, while his disapproval rating sits at 61% according to the latest Fox News survey from mid-September.

“That’s what the Democrats did, and it didn’t work well for them.”

The Border Frame

McClain contrasted far-left Democrats’ policies like abolishing police with Republicans’ support for legal immigration. She said Republicans want immigration “but we want people to come in the right way, and we darn sure want to make sure we know who’s coming across.”

The memo’s border push is part of a broader strategy to frame the election as a contest between conservative Republicans and a Democratic Party McClain describes as a “far-left insurgency.” That framing treats Democratic proposals as extreme positions held by a small group rather than mainstream policy.

The Four-Week Play

The four-week plan is designed to keep the conversation focused on issues where Republicans believe they hold the advantage. The border is the clearest example of that approach.

The memo’s economy focus is similarly targeted. McClain argued that voters already connect Democratic tax plans directly to cost-of-living pressures, a connection she said the GOP should highlight.

The plan is a bet that these four topics will energize Republican voters enough to hold the House.

Where the paper stands

The paper backs Republican candidates who focus on the economy, small business and public safety without carving out special treatment for big business, and is against any election strategy that gathers power into the hands of one machine over another. The memo’s four-week plan, which centers on the border, fraud, the economy and public safety, is a targeted effort to keep the conversation on issues where Republicans believe they hold the advantage. The paper supports candidates who lower the cost of living and of starting and running a small business, not those who hand favors to the biggest players.

The memo’s focus on the economy, specifically on how Democratic tax plans raise costs for working families, aligns with the paper’s goal of lowering the cost of living. The border framing, which sets up a contest between conservative Republicans and a Democratic Party described as a “far-left insurgency,” avoids the horse-race dynamic the paper rejects. The paper backs candidates who judge an issue on its own merits, not on which party controls Washington.

Readers should look past the political framing and judge each topic on its own terms. The border issue, the economy, fraud and public safety are real concerns, but the memo’s language about a “far-left insurgency” is a framing device, not a description of actual Democratic policy. The paper’s north star of individual freedom, small business and no concentrations of power should guide judgment on candidates, not party labels.

Source material: “Inside the House GOP's 4-week battle plan to save its majority,” Fox News.

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