Find Your Ice Bucket: How Republicans Can Win the Final 30 Days
In the lead-up to the 1994 midterm elections - when Republicans flipped the House of Representatives for the first time in over 40 years - Newt Gingrich carried a very simple prop with him to campaign stops across the country.
It was an ordinary ice bucket.
To the average voter, it looked like a random gimmick. But to Newt, it was a physical symbol of everything that was wrong with Washington.
Here’s the backstory: for decades, House patronage rules dictated that a congressional staffer would deliver fresh ice to every member’s office twice a day. By the 1990s, every single congressional office already had a modern refrigerator and freezer inside - making the ice delivery service completely obsolete. But because politicians love spending taxpayer money to preserve cushy patronage jobs, the daily ice delivery remained in place year after year.
Ending that program in the 1990’s saved around $300,000 - a drop in the bucket compared to the federal budget. But that ice bucket became a stark, undeniable visual for working Americans: Washington was burning your hard-earned tax dollars on useless, outdated nonsense.
As we head into the final 30 days of this election cycle, every Republican running for Congress needs to find their own ice bucket.
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Stories I’m reading…
Susan Collins Goes After Democrat Troy Jackson’s Anti-Abortion Record - via The Washington Sun
Troy Jackson trashes voter ID policy, relies on big fat binder of notes in first Maine Senate debate with Susan Collins - via New York Post
‘The list of his failures goes on’: El-Sayed’s Obama criticism resurfaced ahead of campaign rally - via CNN
Inside Trump’s blow-up at Fox News over El-Sayed coverage - via Axios
Exclusive: Mike Johnson raises record $156 million for House GOP - via Axios
Trump admin freezes green card program for 8 tech companies - via Politico
Billionaire Jefferey Epstein associate Reid Hoffman bankrolling James Talarico’s Texas Senate run - via New York Post
Trump calls for Paxton-Talarico debate as Texas Senate race heats up - via The Washington Post
State Department cable: Trump’s ‘birth tourist’ crackdown involves investigating cases as far back as 2020 - via Politico
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