How are the Republicans planning to fight the midterm elections?

Should the party make clear its own platform, asks Chris Stevenson, or should it concentrate on Joe Biden’s performance? And what difference will Donald Trump make?

Former president Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Conroe, Texas (Houston Chronicle/AP)

The midterm elections this year, and the next presidential elections in 2024, are becoming the focus for the leadership of the Republican Party, who seem to be increasingly confident of taking back seats in both chambers of Congress this November.

But there seems to be a split as to how best to go about it. The GOP leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, appears to favour a less-is-more approach. That is, one that keeps the focus on what he sees as the failings of Joe Biden – who has seen his approval ratings slowly fall away in recent months – and lets voters make their choice. The more Republicans put their heads above the parapet, the more it distracts from the pressure on Biden, or so that logic appears to go. “This midterm election will be a report card on the performance of this entire Democratic government: the president, the house and the Senate,” McConnell told NBC News.

This approach is summed up by Frank Luntz, a pollster who worked with Newt Gingrich: “McConnell, I assume, is hoping that anger with the Democrats will carry his members over the finish line.”