Republicans need to debate and fight The Left, not each other, says Peggy Grande

This week has been one of introspection for the Republican Party. Primary season is meant to be that way. Yet conservatives need to always remember that the true enemy of our ideas is not the nuanced opinion of one Republican candidate vs. another, but an ever-progressive wing of the Democrat party which seeks not only to eliminate our candidates and ideas but seems intent on destroying the very foundations of our society.

This is not a time for timidity, subtlety, or suggestion, this is a time for conservatives to unify and stand up confidently and speak out boldly to defeat Joe Biden, his administration, and anyone who promotes his dangerous and damaging policies.

On the debate stage this week in Miami, Florida, we saw five Republican candidates talk amongst themselves, without debating the real candidate – the frontrunner, Donald Trump. Trump held his own rally nearby, while still refusing to debate his primary contenders. He states it’s not worth his time to do so since by some polls he’s nearly 50 percentage points ahead. It’s hard to argue with him on that, though it negates the argument being made that Joe Biden should be debating his rivals as well.

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The debate itself featured some strong moments by each of the candidates, but the shadow looming large over the entire venue was the obvious omission - Donald Trump.

He is not only leading the Republicans but is the person Joe Biden’s team is already bracing to face in the general election. With Biden in freefall in the polls and Trump rising in the polls the more leftist prosecutors go after him, this may become less of a showdown and more pro forma.

Should Trump eventually take a debate stage and face Joe Biden, it would be difficult to watch – like a prize fighter putting a right hook to feeble grandpa’s chin. One strike and Joe would fall before he even knew what hit him. Trump would be left standing – looking like a bully. Maybe that’s the left’s plan.

Republicans need to stay focused and learn to message more effectively. Donald Trump is the master of this, coining bumper sticker mottos and catch phrases which become battle cries to his supporters – and drive his detractors to run screaming to their safe spaces – a true sign it’s working.

Conservatives cannot continue to take the bait by starting the conversation where the left wants to start it. When they frame the issue, they win the issue. Instead, what the right should be talking about are the issues where they are leading – and could win.

While abortion directly affects a very small percentage of the population, the left has ensured that it has hijacked a very large percentage of the national dialogue. It is worthy of public debate and conversation, but there are larger issues which affect a wider number of people in more tangible ways daily. Those should lead and dominate the upcoming campaign season.

Joe Biden has failed the American people with his open border policy, his soft on crime stance, his runaway government spending which has caused inflation, his chaotic withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, his provocation of Putin through his green-lighting a “little incursion” into Ukraine, his weakened relationship with Israel which gave Hamas an opportunity to slaughter innocents, and now his softening stance on support for Israel which is emboldening Hezbollah and Iran.

These are the issues Republican candidates should be talking about. Not abortion. Minimize the most divisive issues and highlight the most uniting. Most Americans want safe streets, strong schools, a secure border, government accountability and fiscal responsibility.

They want citizenship to matter and for Americans to be protected by their leaders and afforded the rights and privileges entitled to those who have pledged their allegiance to this nation and pay taxes to it. We want our global allies to be able to trust us. And want those who oppose us to fear us. We want to pursue lives of purpose, prosperity, opportunity, and meaning with minimal government intrusion.

We often are our own worst enemies though. We think facts will convince others. We think that if we lay it out plainly and make a clear commonsense argument, that those who think differently will change their mind.

But history has shown us facts don’t persuade people - stories do.

The left tugs on the heart strings, even sometimes when those stories are in opposition to the facts or the truth. The right loves to use reason. We think facts and charts and graphs and statistics and data will be compelling. It’s the rare politician who can thread that needle successfully. Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator, had the unique capacity to do both. He could tell America and the world the truth, speak it plainly, even when he knew we wouldn’t all agree or may not like to hear what he was saying. But he also used stories so that we could see ourselves in the examples he gave.

If we can follow his example and see ourselves in the shoes of others, rather than preaching or promising, but first understanding, we can more fully see the needs, see the person, see the world through their eyes and life experience. And approach solutions from a mindset that is more fully informed, compassionate, and connected emotionally to the pain and fear Americans are feeling.

Republicans need to continue to paint a picture of America and the world that is peaceful, prosperous, and overflowing with opportunity and possibility. Remind voters what it felt like when our nation was strong and was holding high the torch of freedom for the world to see. Show them how they could feel that way again. And continue to remind them that Joe Biden’s America is the exact opposite of that picture.

Even if we are convinced that our policies work and our ideas are better for individuals, families, organizations, and society, Republicans cannot continue to see ourselves as the saviors of the nation. We need to see that the nation can only be saved together – and only if together we defeat the left who is systematically and intentionally erasing the America we all once knew and loved.

Peggy Grande was executive assistant to Ronald Reagan and is author of “The President Will See You Now.” She was Chair of World for Brexit and served as a political appointee in the Trump Administration. Peggy serves on the Board of Pepperdine School of Public Policy, and the Board of The Center for American Ideas.