'Speak from heart': Jason Chaffetz highlights lessons for GOP to learn from Democrats on 'Fox & Friends'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz appeared on the January 18 episode of 'Fox & Friends' to discuss why he felt the Democrats had an added ground advantage this election year with co-host Brian Kilmeade.
A Republican himself, Chaffetz wrote an op-ed piece titled '5 REASONS DEMOCRATS ARE IN THE LEAD IN 2024 ELECTIONS," which Kilmeade admitted to have taken him by surprise.
Managing to get more people to vote
"Well, it's not good enough to be right on all the issues," said Chaffetz, launching into an explanation, "Even though the issues seem to be going the Republicans way - the economy is failing and everything else."
"Democrats have a ground game that is unlike anything else. They leverage not-for-profits, they leverage unions, they get out the vote… the rules, the laws…they changed in the (United) States how we vote, when we vote, the way we vote," he continued.
"Republicans complained about it, but they didn't galvanize and leverage and turn an organization to get out and vote. But Democrats have mastered this. They use abortion, they use legalizing marijuana - these ballot initiatives to get uninterested voters that would normally not get out to the polls to get out to the polls," he added, which he felt gave them a "massive advantage."
Presenting statistics vs speaking from heart
Kilmeade asked Chaffetz about his opinion on speaking from the heart rather than getting "too caught up in numbers."
Chaffetz stated that he was tired of "ceding we care most" to the Democrats, in response.
"Republicans need to speak from the heart," he said. "They need to explain why they believe that they believe - share that passion, share their personal beliefs. The candidates that do that, they excel, they do really, really well."
"But remember, it's not just Donald Trump or somebody who is on the ballot here. You have 435 house races, you have a third of the United States Senate, you have the Governors' races, you have up and down the ballot tons of races. So Republicans as a whole, you have got to speak from your heart," he reminded the GOP.
"If you know that you care more than your opponent, they are going to vote for you," shared Chaffetz, acknowledging that the former President and current Republican frontrunner Trump is doing it well.