Republicans fear they've blown economic message that could have secured victory
by Steven Nelson
| November 04, 2018 12:00 AM
For all the media fixation on the "lies" President Trump tells, sometimes he has an uncanny knack of telling the unvarnished truth.
So it was on Friday night when Trump told those gathered at a West Virginia rally: "Sometimes it’s not as exciting to talk about the economy because we have a lot of other things to talk about."
That unscripted line left some Republican strategists nodding in agreement and wondering about what might have been. Republicans are bracing for the loss of the House of Representatives with operatives citing the lack of a coherent economic message and unnecessary distractions as decisive factors.
Trump routinely touts low unemployment and booming businesses during rambling speeches or rallies for midterm election candidates. But Republican campaign staff members argue that the message did not receive enough prominence due to strategic missteps.
"Elections are most often driven by personal economic impact: Am I better off today than I was the last time I voted?" said Republican strategist and pollster Frank Luntz. "For a clear majority of Americans, the answer is yes. But the GOP isn't getting credit for it because it didn't talk about it enough."
Luntz blames "freelancing" lawmakers who, among other things, have sought to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
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