Cologne A page. That’s how long the election program of the Republican faction in the US House of Representatives is. However, that is generous for the Republicans, because in 2020 the party did not publish any program for the presidential election.
That hardly offers the voters any orientation anyway – neither for the Republicans nor for the Democrats. In some cases, the demands also differ greatly within the two major parties. Professor Christian Lammert from the Kennedy Institute for North American Studies in Berlin says: “In the USA there are actually 104 parties, a Democratic and a Republican at the federal level, 50 each in the individual states and the two parties in Congress, because they are very independent .”
Despite the differences, the parties also have important similarities. The Handelsblatt has searched the individual election programs of the congress candidates for the goals of the parties. Read the results here:
Republicans are using familiar approaches on economic issues. “You could perhaps describe it as ‘unleashing market forces’. It’s about tax cuts and the relaxation of environmental guidelines,” says Martin Thunert, lecturer in political science at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies.
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They blame the high inflation on the Democrats’ sweeping spending programs. Republican Senate candidate from Alabama Katie Britt cites “runaway government spending” as the main reason for high inflation. At the same time, the party is calling for tax cuts that it believes would help growth.
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) already presented a plan for this in the summer. The RSC, a conservative group of congressmen, writes, “The RSC budget would reduce taxes by $3.9 trillion over the next ten years.” That would be nearly 10 percent of total annual tax revenue.
Midterms – US midterm elections – What is it about?
House of Representatives
In the midterm elections on November 8, the Americans will re-elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives. The term of office of members of parliament is generally limited to two years. So far, the Democrats have 222 seats there, the Republicans 213. Together with the Senate, the House of Representatives forms the Congress.
senate
In the Senate, Americans will only re-elect a third of the 100 seats in the midterms – a total of 35. Of the seats now up for election, 14 have been occupied by Democrats and 21 by Republicans. Currently, Republicans have 50 votes in the Senate, Democrats have 48, and Independents have two. Together with the independents and the vote of the vice president, the Democrats still have the majority.
governorships in the states
In 36 of the 50 states, the governorship will be re-elected on November 8th, i.e. the heads of state and government of the individual states. So far, 20 of the states with gubernatorial elections have been led by Republicans and 16 by Democrats.
However, the RSC proposal does not make it clear how the Republicans intend to finance their tax cuts. This corresponds to a trend in the party, says Thunert: “Being the party of budgetary discipline has become less and less important during the Trump era. They attack the Democrats for their spending programs, but the Republican proposals are not solidly funded either.”
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However, the Democrats also lack concrete proposals. “I don’t see much on Biden’s agenda for the second half of his term,” says Christian Lammert. In principle, US President Joe Biden’s agenda for economic programs has already been completed – even if the President had to make many concessions to the conservative wing of his party.
The Democrats refer to the “Inflation Reduction Act”, in which they have joined the plan for a global minimum tax and want to lower the prices for prescription drugs.
But despite its name, the law arguably has no impact on inflation. At least that’s what the non-partisan budget office in Congress calculates. That’s why some candidates whose re-election is at risk are calling for further steps. Senators Mark Kelly and Maggie Hassan recently introduced legislation that would repeal the petroleum tax for the remainder of the year. High gasoline prices had already damaged the Democrats’ polls in the spring.
Despite high inflation, Democrat supporters have a different perspective on the economy. In a New York Times poll, 36 percent of Democrat voters said the economy was in bad shape. Little compared to the 79 percent of Republican supporters who think so.
The foreign policy
On foreign policy, the US is less polarized than on other issues. A comprehensive support program for Ukraine was passed by the Senate in May by a vote of 86 to 11 – a very rare unanimity. Political scientist Thunert predicts that the elections will not change much. “There are positions that are apologetic to Russia, especially among the Republicans, but they are in a small minority in Congress. And that will remain so for the time being.”
The parties are also similar when it comes to China: “The assessment of China as a strategic opponent has become dominant in both parties,” explains Thunert.
>> Read here: “Whoever plays with fire will perish”: Xi warns Biden against interference in Taiwan conflict
The visit of Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the House Democrats, to Taiwan met with bipartisan approval. No matter which party wins the November elections, little will change in US China policy.
The trade policy
With a Democratic administration in Washington, the rhetoric on trade policy has changed. Instead of “America first”, Biden advertises a little more cautiously for “made in America”. In the future, the US government should buy more products that are manufactured in the USA.
His protectionist stance was one of his priorities in Trump’s first campaign.
(Photo: Reuters)
Overall, the positions of the two parties are similar in this area as well. “It’s not ‘America first’, but the global production chains are being called into question,” says US expert Lammert on the Democrats’ plans. In their party program for the 2020 presidential election, the Democrats called for “a trade policy that puts workers at the center”.
That sounds very similar to the Republicans. The party’s Trump wing, in particular, is banking on the former president’s “America first” motto. Senate candidate Blake Masters, who is supported by Trump and Paypal founder Peter Thiel, writes on his campaign website: “Our trade policy must give top priority to American workers.” Both parties are thus distancing themselves from large trade agreements. Many voters blame them for the exodus of industrial and manufacturing jobs abroad.
The immigration policy
The parties also argue about Donald Trump’s biggest campaign promise. The wall on the border with Mexico continues to be an important issue for many Republican candidates. Trump-sponsored Senate candidate JD Vance is demanding construction be completed. In border state Arizona, Blake Masters wants the same thing.
Other Republicans go further in their demands. Nothing would be more momentous than the possible end of “birthright citizenship”, i.e. the right to US citizenship for everyone who was born in the USA. The RSC wants to abolish this.
>> Read here: “Standing on the edge of the abyss”: Daily new buses with migrants push New York to the limit
Democrats have diverse views on this issue. You have sharply criticized Trump’s migration policy, but candidates in border states like Mark Kelly in Arizona are still calling for more border security equipment. Other candidates emphasize the importance of immigration for the economy. The issue isn’t high on the agenda for Democrats either, especially those voting far from the Mexican border.
The abortion policy
Abortion is one of the main campaign issues for the Democrats. Since the Supreme Court overturned abortion rights, Democrats have caught up in polls. Tim Ryan, the Democrat candidate for the embattled Ohio Senate seat, advertises on his website that he wants to guarantee abortion rights with a statewide law.
For the Democrats, abortion rights have become an important campaign issue.
(Photo: AP)
Many Republicans are more reserved on this issue. While the Supreme Court’s decision was the result of decades of work bringing conservative judges to the Supreme Court, it is largely unpopular.
Group leader McConnell said on a proposal by fellow party member Lindsay Graham to ban abortions nationwide after the 15th week of pregnancy that his group would prefer states to make abortion laws.
crime
Since 2014, the crime rate in the USA has been rising again. 2020 was the first year since 1995 with more than 20,000 reported homicides. This is one of the reasons why Republicans have emphasized their “law and order” profile in recent years.
The party’s candidates accuse the Democrats of being too lax about crime. Herschel Walker, Republican Senate candidate in Georgia, writes on his website that the Democrats have “demoralized, slashed their resources, and undermined the good guys in uniform.” He, on the other hand, will work to ensure that the police receive more support.
The Democrats are trying to distance themselves from this impression without adopting the Republicans’ choice of words. Senator Maggie Hassan is campaigning against vote-out in New Hampshire. She writes on her website that she is proud to support the police force and has “voted to hire 100,000 new police officers nationwide.”
President Biden himself has already sided with the police. “The answer isn’t to cut police funding, it’s to increase it,” the President said in Spring, showing that the cry “Defund The Police” has gone from a motto of the anti-police violence protest movement to a slogan, with which many Democrats do not want to be associated with.
However, support for the security agencies has limits among Trump’s supporters in the Republican Party. Following the FBI’s search of Trump’s Florida home, right-wing Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called for the FBI’s funding to be cut. Her parliamentary colleague Paul Gosar went even further: “We have to destroy the FBI,” wrote the Arizona state MP on Twitter. Trump had described the search as politically motivated.
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