NEWS AND OPINION:
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has a new book out, with a timely title: “Radical Nation: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s Dangerous Plan for America.”
It chronicles the progressive agenda now gripping the White House and provides grassroots guidelines for those who want to push back against it.
So what is the author’s advice to the Republican Party on the best strategy to counter this persistent force? Mr. Spicer looks to the recent off-year election which yielded substantial and unexpected Republican victories and a reality check for Democrats.
“After last week’s elections, Democrats are very aware that they have 12 months to get as much of their radical agenda passed before they lose the House of Representatives. Republicans in Congress must be ready to use every tool to stop them,” Mr. Spicer tells Inside the Beltway.
“First they must be willing to use every parliamentary tactic and procedure to slow down and stop their efforts. Second, and probably more important, they need to make a compelling and logical case regarding how dangerous and political the Democrats’ motives are. They did this effectively when it came to making the case for voter ID — now they must do it again with respect to everything from packing the U.S. Supreme Court and allowing migrants to flood over our southern border to making Washington, D.C., a state so they can get two additional Democrat senators,” he advises.
Mr. Spicer’s book was published Oct. 26 by Humanix Books. He is currently a host on Newsmax.
IOWA STILL SIDES WITH TRUMP
The Hawkeye State is still very friendly towards former President Donald Trump. In a hypothetical 2024 rematch, Mr. Trump leads President Biden in Iowa by 11 percentage points, according to a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. In 2020, Mr. Trump defeated Mr. Biden by about 8 points, carrying the state 53% to 45%.
The new survey reveals that 51% of likely Iowa voters in the 2024 election would vote for Mr. Trump, while 40% would pick Mr. Biden. Another 4% say they would not vote for either candidate, and 5% are not sure. The poll of 810 Iowa adults was conducted Nov. 7-10.
These positive numbers for Mr. Trump could be put to the test however. It’s complicated. The poll also found that among Iowans who identify as Republicans, 61% say they are more aligned with the party compared to 26% who say they are more aligned with Mr. Trump.
“That preference for the party over Trump is shared by a majority of every demographic group among Republicans, including those in rural areas and evangelical Iowans — two of Trump’s strongholds,” the poll analysis said.
Which perhaps explains why a “parade of potential Republican presidential contenders” have been visiting Iowa in the past year — more than two years ahead of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses, the analysis said.
The parade in recent months has included Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida, and Tim Scott of South Carolina; Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Jim Jordan of Ohio; former Vice President Mike Pence; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
A NOTEWORTHY COMPARISON
Vice President Kamala Harris was scrutinized by the news media following a CNN report Sunday that suggested there was “entrenched dysfunction and lack of focus” in her office.
Spinoff stories followed from multiple sources, either echoing the CNN claims or chronicling the rebuttal of those claims by White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
One analysis of the vice president’s woes and the press hysteria that followed peeked into the past, however.
“It’s not a great sign when vice-presidential aides reportedly pass around a recent Onion story mocking her lack of more substantive work. (The headline in question: ‘White House Urges Kamala Harris to Sit at Computer All Day in Case Emails Come Through’),” quipped New York Magazine columnist Matt Stieb.
“But it’s far from the unprecedented hostility seen in the final days of the Trump White House. On Sunday, minutes after CNN published its report of dysfunction, White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted in defense of Harris ‘for anyone who needs to hear it’,” Mr. Stieb wrote.
Meanwhile, Ms. Harris will be off to Columbus, Ohio, later this week, set to “underscore how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will benefit Ohioans,” according to a statement from her office.
‘THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT A CO-PARENT’
The Independent Women’s Network has mobilized parents, grandparents and caregivers fed up with government-run schools indoctrinating children with “woke curricula” that is heavy on progressive ideology and even sexual content.
On Tuesday, the group will stage a “Government Is Not A Co-Parent” rally near the U.S. Capitol to voice its discontent.
Republican lawmakers will be on hand to help them get the point across. They include Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, Carol Miller of West Virginia, Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, Claudia Tenney of New York and Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee.
“Government overreach is a threat to parental rights. Parents should and must have a say in what their children are taught in schools. It’s time for parents across the country to stand up and demand schools educate, not indoctrinate,” Julie Gunlock, director of Independent Women’s Network, said in a statement shared with Inside The Beltway.
POLL DU JOUR
• 51% of U.S. adults disapprove of the way President Biden is handling his job as president; 90% of Republicans, 61% of independents, 13% of Democrats, 55% of men and 47% of women agree.
• 34% disapprove because “he is changing too much about America”; 71% of Republicans, 39% of independents, 3% of Democrats, 39% of men and 29% of women agree.
• 12% disapprove because “he isn’t changing enough about America”; 15% of Republicans, 15% of independents, 7% of Democrats, 11% of men and 13% of women agree.
• 4% are not sure why; 4% of Republicans, 6% of independents, 2% of Democrats, 4% of men and 4% of women agree.
SOURCE: A Yahoo News Survey of 1,673 U.S. adults conducted Nov. 4-8.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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