Last week's defeat of Georgia Republican nominee Herschel Walker to incumbent U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) was emblematic of how the GOP fared in the 2022 midterm election cycle.
Even though Republicans gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives, they lost a seat in the U.S. Senate, all of which came with underwater approval numbers for Democrat President Joe Biden and a majority of Americans pessimistic about the direction of the country.
During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) argued Republicans spent too much time attacking Democrats and not enough time on solutions to the nation's woes.
He also blamed "extreme" views of GOP candidates and Washington, D.C.-based consultants unfamiliar with local concerns in statewide elections around the country.
"It was a combination of some things," he said. "We lost some seats that we should have kept because some people who were really extreme in their views won their primaries, and every one of them lost. That's just the facts. I mean, all you've got to do is check out the results."
"The other thing, though, is I think there's way too much emphasis put on consultants who are Washington, D.C. consultants," Palmer continued. "One of the things that I've tried to caution people about is they don't know us. They don't know people who live in Mobile or who live in Birmingham or Tucson or wherever. They're out of touch."
"It seemed to me like the whole campaign centered around how bad Biden is and how bad Pelosi is, and they're Democrats, and we're Republicans, vote for us. That's just not a winning strategy. I did everything I could to get people to go out and talk about how to bring down inflation."
Jeff Poor is the executive editor of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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