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FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans have adopted a new weapon on the campaign trail as they fight to keep control of Congress for the latter half of President Donald Trump’s term — using Democrats’ own intraparty civil war against them.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is unveiling a website on Monday that will highlight the contrast between what he calls “common sense and crazy.”
The name for the new initiative is “Contrast for America,” a play on the Newt Gingrich-led “Contract with America” GOP policy platform used during the 1994 midterm election.
That same year saw a massive red wave help the GOP retake the House and Senate for the latter two years of former President Bill Clinton’s first term, and Republicans are hoping to harness that energy now as they fight an uphill battle to retain the House and Senate.
MIKE JOHNSON PREDICTS GOP COULD GAIN UP TO EIGHT SEATS IN MIDTERMS, DEFYING HISTORICAL TRENDS
The website is divided into five separate parts, beginning with a video message from Johnson that includes a montage of Fox News clips and compares images of unrest in U.S. cities to videos of patriotic displays of the country’s 250th anniversary.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It must be fought for. It must be protected. It has to be taught, passed along to the next generation. Thirty-five years ago, Republicans and Democrats in Congress, they were fighting communism on a distant shore. Now it’s here,” Johnson says in the video.
The website also includes a timeline of failed communist governments throughout the world, followed by dueling lists that show what Republicans are running on versus what Democrats’ far-left insurgency is pushing.
SOCIALIST VICTORIES SHOW DEMS’ DESCENT DOWN ‘DEADLY PATH OF COMMUNISM,’ JOHNSON WARNS
It comes as candidates linked to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) surge to the top of Democratic primaries across the United States, even toppling establishment and progressive incumbents in places like Colorado and New York.
Johnson’s website highlights those specific DSA-linked candidates along with Republicans who are endorsed by House GOP leaders.
“House Republicans have delivered working families tax cuts to put more money in your pocket, a secure border, safer streets, American energy dominance, an end to woke indoctrination for our kids, and renewed American strength abroad. Meanwhile, Democrats have surrendered to the socialist and communist far-left that wants to abolish borders, defund police, abolish prisons, raise your taxes, and shred our Constitution, leaving America less safe, less prosperous, and less free,” Johnson told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“By highlighting this decisive contrast for America and our common sense polices and America first candidates, House Republicans are ready to defy history and win the midterms.”
100 DAY SPRINT TO THE MIDTERMS KICKS OFF AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS CLASH FOR CONTROL ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Political history shows that the party in power in the White House usually loses one or both houses of Congress during the midterm elections.
But the slate of DSA victories is giving Republicans new hope that they can buck tradition.
Among the DSA’s policy goals are abolishing the Senate, police, and the prison system, extending voting rights to noncitizen permanent residents, and establishing public ownership of large corporations.
DSA candidates have also called for abolishing the nation’s borders and granting mass amnesty to people in the U.S. illegally.
It’s a message Johnson has made on the campaign trail already as he’s campaigned in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, with plans to hit a total of 30 districts across 18 states.
Whether the message is potent enough to buck decades of political history, however, will become clear in November.
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