Reporter's Notebook: Congress struggles to find a message that resonates with voters ahead of midterms

Canadian sociologist Marshall McLuhan famously declared that "the medium is the message."But what if the message is just "medium?" Or, perhaps in today’s vernacular, "mid."Both sides are trying to curate what they say to voters in order to coax them to vote for their party in November."The message matters," said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., on Fox."We have accomplished a ton.

No taxes on overtime.No taxes on tips.

We raised the child care tax credit.The list goes on and on."EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE VANCE'S INTIMATE CAPITOL HILL HUDDLE AS REPUBLICANS CONFRONT TOUGH MIDTERM TERRAINHouse Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, during a television interview at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Sept.

30, 2025.Emmer has introduced a bill that would denaturalize convicted fraudsters of their U.S.

citizenship.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Those are all vestiges of the Big Beautiful Bill which the Republican-led Congress passed last summer.

Now Republicans are scrambling to remind voters what they did."It was a great message last year and we missed the opportunity, in my view, to talk about the good things we did last year," conceded Sen.Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.But Cramer says voters want to know what you’ve done for them lately.

And that’s where the GOP could struggle."People's rearview mirror is getting shorter and shorter all the time," said Cramer."What you are going to do for me today is more important to them than what you tried to do a year ago."That’s why some Republicans are frank about their prospects at the polls."This midterm is going to be a f*cking bloodbath," fumed Rep.

Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who is retiring."I think that both parties know everyone's putting blame on the Republicans right now."Democrats are campaigning on affordability.

The cost of groceries and fuel are top of mind."What's most important to Americans are pocketbook issues," said Sen.Tim Kaine, D-Va.

"And they see the tariff strategy as pu...