Horowitz: 4 immediate actions for conservatives to make the election victory meaningful

November 9 is the most important date on the calendar. It is the date that will determine whether conservatives are finally serious about keeping Republicans on a short leash and not repeating the mistakes that squandered the electoral mandates of the red waves in 1994 and 2010.

“Vote, vote, vote – the most important thing you can do is vote on Election Day.” That has been the banal refrain from Republican leaders and conservative radio hosts since I’ve been alive. But they were wrong then, and they are certainly wrong this year. The most important thing is to remain engaged the day after the election and beyond to ensure that the red wave converts into a red mandate for discernable policy changes on the issues most important to civilization. There are several things to check off on the conservative to-do list immediately after the election that will determine whether this election finally changes the country in a permanent way or whether we continue repeating the same mistakes of trusting the uniparty, as in the past.

1) Cancel the lame-duck session of Congress: The most important thing for any conservative influencer right now is to immediately call on all of the elected members of Congress, particularly the incoming freshmen, to circulate a letter to Mitch McConnell demanding that he support termination of the lame-duck session. They must pass a short-term CR to fund the government for a few months so that the GOP Congress can rewrite the budget, then get out of town before any damage is done.

The first step to triage is stopping the bleeding. This means ensuring that no new bad bills can pass. For those who remember the 2010 election, that balloon of victory was immediately deflated when conservatives got crushed in the lame-duck session by outgoing Democrats on a myriad of bills. This time, though, McConnell’s Republicans already have 50 seats in the Senate. While McConnell doesn’t technically have the power to stop Schumer from conducting a full lame-duck session, he can hold a press conference noting that Democrats lost their mandate to govern and that he will be whipping against any piece of legislation they pass, including the omnibus bill. Right now, they plan to pass not only an omnibus bill that takes away our budget leverage for a year, but a number of other menacing bills, including a ban on states defining marriage as a marriage, a boost in Chinese/Indian visas, and many other things they will slip in before Christmas.

Absent a pressure campaign from outside conservative voices and Trump himself, McConnell is prepared to pass the omnibus and unleash the 10 votes needed to pass gay marriage and many other leftist priorities. What a way to respond to a red wave! The momentum could be wiped out within days.

2) Challenge McConnell for Senate majority leader: Any Republican who is intellectually honest will recognize that McConnell’s time has passed and he simply does not reflect that values of any of the party voters any more. There will likely be numerous new Republicans elected despite his opposition who hold no allegiance to him. For example, Blake Masters of Arizona already told the Daily Mail that he is “prepared to be a thorn in the side of party leader Mitch McConnell if he pulls off a win.” It’s time for a fresh face who has new ideas and is willing to carry the mantle of a pro-freedom and America-first agenda. McConnell is currently the most unpopular leader, with a -39% net negative favorable rating.

Although it’s hard to get a Senate full of RINOs to support the most conservative member for majority leader, at a minimum, someone like Rick Scott, who just successfully chaired the NRSC this cycle, should be an acceptable alternative. Conservatives should begin putting pressure on their Republican senators to voice support for an alternative. If and when there is an alternative, there is one man who could probably apply enough pressure to get the GOP senators to publicly divulge how they would vote in the private conference: Donald J. Trump. This is how Trump can be even more impactful outside the White House than as president. He has already promised to push McConnell out as leader if he is reelected as president, but there is no time like the present. Besides, with Mitt Romney already playing interference for him, you know he is vulnerable.

3) Change House rules: As I wrote last month, the Freedom Caucus has proposed a package of rules changes that might be voted on the week after the election. They will determine whether the House will continue to be run top-down by leadership or more bottom-up, where individual members can propose amendments and force votes on important issues. If conservatives fail to immediately mobilize behind these rules changes and educate the incoming freshman about their importance, the House majority could be lost before it even enters the door on January 3, 2023 by dooming itself to repeating the mistakes of the Boehner era.

4) Formulate state legislative ground assault: The states are where everything must get implemented. With the prospect of controlling more than 30 state governments, conservatives must immediately prepare for the legislative sessions in January (in most states). They must ensure there is a cadre of legislators pushing bills to block federal tyranny from the IRS and FBI, end sexual grooming and the transgender agenda in their states, clamp down on illegal immigration and repeat violent criminals, and reverse and prohibit every COVID and pharma fascist policy that has plagued us for the past few years. States like Texas are critical, and they only convene every other year, so time is of the essence. Red-state legislative sessions are even more important than Congress and deserve the bulk of our attention.

Conservatives will never get another opportunity to harness public outrage together with a newfound mandate to rectify recent and long-standing grievances of the people. As such, there will be no time to celebrate on Nov. 8 – just enough time to congratulate the Republican victors and let them know we demand specific actions and we demand them now.