Republicans don’t need to run from conservatism to be popular
Zachary Faria
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At a time when establishment media pundits, and even some Republicans, are insisting that the GOP should distance itself from conservative policies, conservative governors in swing states are seeing all-time high approval ratings.
Gov. Brian Kemp has hit 60% approval in Georgia, fresh off of beating media darling (and second-term not-governor) Stacey Abrams in the governor’s race with over 53% of the vote. In 2022, Brian Kemp signed into law a ban on critical race theory, a parental rights in education bill, a bill to protect the integrity of women’s sports from transgender (male) athletes, and constitutional carry. Georgia’s six-week abortion ban also went into effect in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Kemp signed that into law in 2019.
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Kemp then coasted to reelection and has now hit his best approval rating yet, while terrible GOP candidates lost the presidential race in Georgia in 2020, sabotaged the Senate runoffs in 2021, and lost another Senate race in 2022. Kemp, in fact, has gained 23 points in his approval rating since the start of 2021.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has also hit his best approval rating yet, with 56% approving of his performance. Youngkin has gained eight points since the start of 2022. On his first day in office, Youngkin issued an executive order banning critical race theory in schools. He has also been pushing for an abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy since June 2022 in a state that backed Joe Biden for president in 2020 by 10 points.
Both Kemp and Youngkin are true conservatives pursuing true conservative agendas, and yet they are not wildly unpopular or committing “political suicide.” Kemp is the 11th most popular governor in the country and has a net approval rating of +27. Youngkin is 20th while holding a net approval rating of +24. They are outscoring Republican governors in South Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, and Mississippi, among other red states.
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Liberal media’s incentives to push Republicans away from the Kemp or Youngkin model are clear: they hate effective conservative leaders.
But the Republicans joining that push are only doing so to mask their own cowardice. Republicans do not need to abandon cultural issues and conservative policies to be popular, even in swing states. You can embrace cultural issues and simply be a competent leader, and voters will reward you for it.