GOP Should Tout Successes on Dems' Issues

Individuals often vote for the Democratic Party because they believe that the Democrats support their views on certain issues and achieves better results on them than the Republican Party. In reality, though, Republicans often attain better outcomes on these "Democrat issues" than Democrats.

If Republicans advocated for these issues and highlighted their superior results, Republicans could convert these voters from Democrats to Republicans. In essence, Republicans would be using the Democrats' own arguments against them.

Below are examples from President Donald Trump's administration in which Trump succeeded in policy areas which are often considered Democratic Party issues.

Bettering Diverse Communities: Democrats continually state that Republicans are racist and white supremacist. The facts, however, tell a different story.

During the Trump administration, the unemployment rate for Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians hit record lows. President Trump's 2017 creation of Opportunity Zones (incentivizing investment in distressed communities) yielded $75 billion of investments in underprivileged communities and raised potentially 1 million people from poverty.

Funding was restored to historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving schools, and tribal schools. This article by Lynne Patton lists other achievements.

Improving the Lives of Women: Democrats have argued that Republicans have a "War on Women." The reality, though, is not the case. During the Trump administration, the unemployment rate for women reached its lowest level in over 60 years.

President Trump signed legislation which created 12 weeks of paid paternal leave for federal employees who give birth, adopt or foster a child. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the child tax credit to $2,000 per child under age 17.

The Environment: Democrats maintain that they are the political party which cares about the environment. The Trump administration, however, had a great record on the environment. Greenhouse gases continued to drop during the Trump administration, including a nearly 5% percent drop from 2018 to 2019.

The Trump administration invested over $38 billion in clean water initiatives, strengthened national standards regarding lead in drinking water, secured the largest investment in national parks and public lands, and called for improved forest management to decrease wildfires via enhanced federal supervision and local and state partnerships. President Trump also passed the Great American Outdoors Act which directed money for maintenance and repair and permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

World Peace: Democrats claim that President Trump is a warmonger who will start WWIII. The facts show that President Trump has taken actions which have led to peace. President Trump was the first President in 40 years (since President Jimmy Carter) to not insert the United States into a military conflict with another country.

He also shepherded the Abraham Accords which normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. President Trump ended the ISIS caliphate. He also ordered the withdrawal of troops from northern Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Republicans need to promote their successes on these traditionally Democrat issues and not take for granted that Democratic voters know about Republican policy accomplishments. For example, Republicans should be very straightforward and state: "Republicans have had these successes in these traditional 'Democrat' issues ..."

Republicans should continually laud these achievements and not just wait until election seasons to discuss them. It is through this process that Republicans can grow the Republican Party and convert Democrat voters to Republican voters.