Republicans need a Reagan-style vision to win the battle over America's future

These midterm elections aren’t about the price of gas, or data centers, or even $5000 checks in the mail from the federal government.

They will be about which political party offers a hopeful view of the future , one that inspires and motivates, and which is mired in bitterness about the past, and hatred of what’s next.

The RNC convention showed once and for all that it’s the GOP that represents that hopeful future.

Speakers, including President Trump, J.D.

Vance, and Robert Kennedy Jr, told America about the good news from Trump policies, from the boom in manufacturing and construction jobs; the investment boom thanks to the Trump tax cuts; and the stock market boom; to the sealing of the border and the decline in crime across the country.

REPUBLICANS CAN WIN THE MIDTERMS IF THEY JUST STOP UNDERSELLING SUCCESS They also drew a sharp contrast with the rise of the DSA, and with what the Democrat party has become: the party that despises America and all it represents.

Now it’s up to Republican candidates to translate that message into votes, by speaking to voters’ hearts, not just their heads.

MODERN CAPITALISM IS TURNING 250, TOO.

WE NEED TO REMIND AMERICANS WHY IT’S IMPORTANT And here they need to take a page from the Ronald Reagan playbook.

Reagan was able to dominate the political landscape for nearly a decade by projecting a hopeful picture of the future for the greatest and strongest nation on earth, what Reagan called "the shining city on the hill." As Reagan himself put it, "I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children, and our children's children." It’s worth remembering what Reagan had to overcome to convey this hopeful message.

When he took office as president in January 1981, the prime interest rate was near 20 percent.

The annual real GDP growth rate for the previous full year (1980) was a negative number, at -0.3%3.

During his first year as president, the need to tighten interest rates led to a deeper recession in 1982, while unemployment spiked at 10%.

Gas prices spiked upward, as well.