Editor’s Note: From the Back Forty is Liberty Nation’s longest-running and most popular weekly column. Capturing the truth each week from heartlanders in flyover states, LN gives voice to the hard-working Americans otherwise ignored by the coastal elites.
The great debate continues from coast to coast about whether there will indeed be a red tsunami, come the November midterm elections. Although flyover folks have high hopes, they are primarily suspicious of voting. Couple that irritating feeling with a twitch and a cringe, and those in the Heartland have no use for the latest promise from the Republican Swamp-dwellers. It was just that kind of political week to tolerate. Thank goodness football season is here again to remove some of the stings.
Red Tsunami or Extra Blue Sprinkles?
Appearing on Fox News Channel, former Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, warned Democrats and attempted -- not all that successfully -- to encourage conservative-minded voters to embrace optimism that there would be a red day of reckoning sooner, rather than later. He explained:
“I think the American people want to change the trajectory. They want to stop the murders. They want to stop the rising prices. They want to get back to independence in energy. And I think that the commitment to America that the House Republicans are launching provides exactly the kind of things that the American people would like to replace the current failures with.”
Newt was indeed on point with the country’s dissatisfaction with the current economic climate and future dismal predictions. And he hammered his point a bit more: “[Y]ou know it ain’t working because it’s too expensive. I just paid $5.05 a gallon for gasoline last Saturday. It ain’t working. It’s too expensive. You watch the evening news and see the local murder rate. You know it’s not working. That is why I think this will be a much bigger Republican tsunami than people currently expect.”
Most agreed with Gingrich, like Texan Kevin Peikert, who stated, “I do believe this. I don’t think there are very many people who have not already made up their mind who they are voting for, and it is not going to be democrats.” Others bristled.
Gloria Gonzales warned people to get up and vote at their polling place, reminding those in some areas, “You will have to show your registration card.” But Scott Reynolds in LaFollette, TN, remembered his feeling after the 2020 presidential contest, warning, “Assume nothing. Go vote like your life depends on it because basically, it does.”
Contract With America 2.0
“We have a plan. Today, House Republicans are rolling out our ‘Commitment to America,’ a bold conservative vision for a prosperous America that will reverse Biden and Pelosi’s self-made crises. Our plan is built on four key principles: an economy that is strong; a nation that is safe; a future built on freedom; and a government that is accountable.” That was part of a pledge from Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) delivered via Breitbart to get the word out about the latest version of the 1994 Contract with America. So now it’s a “Commitment,” and folks find it hard to swallow even with a good slug of bourbon.
For the younger folks and those once entirely off the grid, the Contract with America was a document signed Sept. 27, 1994, with spectacular fanfare and optics on the Capitol steps in the Swamp. The political pleading and pandering by members of the Republican minority pledged what they would accomplish for the people if they reclaimed the majority. It worked, and they did. Under Speaker Newt Gingrich’s leadership, this whole Newt week was not a coincidence; they made good on most of their promises. Many pledges that included tax cuts, a permanent line-item veto, measures to reduce crime and provide middle-class tax relief, a constitutional amendment requiring term limits, and a balanced budget. It’s obvious where the “Contract” fell flat.
And now Republicans are trying to resurrect that tired old tactic. At least that’s what flyover folks were saying. It was a tepid response by Brett Correia in Las Vegas: “I just wonder why the mainstream Republicans only act like conservatives during election season. Once elected to office, enough of them don’t walk the walk and really screw things by supporting crazy-a-- leftist ideas. Obama care springs to my mind.”
And there was sarcasm in Hoosierland as Marc Blaydoe questioned, “I hope this works as well as it did back in 1994.” Wolverine stater Barry Freeman called the effort “a milquetoast response” when the Republic was under “absolute assault.” And several commenters searched in vain for the clause that read “If we don’t deliver we will resign immediately.” But for the most part, it was David Dupuis in Trenton, MI, that summed up the majority of sentiments from the Heartland when he commented, “Sorry Establishment, we need a Party with balls, not another plan.”
