By Richard A. Viguerie

The survival of conservatism and the Trump agenda depend on the outcome of the 2018 midterm election. If the Democrats take control of Congress—or even just the House—they will be able to stall or defeat all conservative initiatives and will use every opportunity to advance their far-Left agenda.

Most certainly, if they win control of the House they will move quickly to impeach President Trump, and thus invalidate the legitimate democratic outcome of the 2016 election. This would be a coup of the most dangerous and unprecedented magnitude on the part of the Swamp and its allies—the Deep State, the permanent government bureaucracy, the lobbyists and their clients (both domestic and foreign), the Wall Street banks and the Federal Reserve, and the leftist coalition of special-interest organizations, foundations, and violence-prone agitators.

We must not let this happen. And the only way we can stop this from happening is to nationalize the election.

But what do I mean by "nationalize"?

Swamp Republican strategists like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell want Republican candidates to emphasize local issues and bland repetitions of "Republican accomplishments," move to the center, avoid "inflammatory" issues, and basically run content-free campaigns. This is a sure recipe for disaster—especially after one party wins both the presidency and Congress. Historically this almost always results in a backlash in the first midterm election during the new president's reign. This is especially true this year, with Democrats furious that President Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and determined to punish him for that crime.

The only way for conservatives to win, operating through the Republican Party, is to draw a clear contrast with the Democrats on national issues that resonate emotionally with the American public. We must BRAND the Democrats as the party of open borders, sanctuary cities protecting illegal immigrants, violent radical socialists, job-killing regulations and trade policies, a weak "lead-from-behind" foreign policy and a hollowed-out military, restrictions on our Second Amendment rights, taxpayer funding of partial birth abortions and sex selection, and higher taxes.

Nationalization is how conservatives and Republicans almost always win, and this was certainly true in 1994 and 2010. In 1994 Republicans won by adopting Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America"—national issues. And 2010 was the Tea Party insurgency against incumbents who had bailed out the culprits behind the financial meltdown of 2008, again rallying around national issues. And thanks to candidate Trump, 2016 was a stellar example of winning by nationalizing the campaign with emotionally felt issues. By making Hillary herself and "build the wall" major issues, for example, he pulled off victory when all the pundits and election experts were predicting "inevitable" defeat. Compare Trump's winning "Make America Great Again" campaign with Romney's losing content-free campaign in 2012.

Conservatives must confront and fight the Swamp Republican strategists who want content-free campaigns. That is why I am appealing for your help as a conservative leader who has influence that counts.

Several times a week, between now and November, I will post brief Victory in 2018 memos on our website, NationalizeTheElection.com, that provide examples of how we can win this year by emphasizing content-laden national issues. And each Friday morning I will send an email to you and some 5,000 other conservative leaders across the nation, calling your attention to these victory memos.

We must act as if the future of our conservative cause depends on this. Because it does.

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The survival of conservatism and the Trump agenda depend on the outcome of the 2018 midterm election. If the Democrats take control of Congress—or even just the House—they will be able to stall or defeat all conservative initiatives and will use every opportunity to advance their far-Left agenda.

Most certainly, if they win control of the House they will move quickly to impeach President Trump, and thus invalidate the legitimate democratic outcome of the 2016 election. This would be a coup of the most dangerous and unprecedented magnitude on the part of the Swamp and its allies—the Deep State, the permanent government bureaucracy, the lobbyists and their clients (both domestic and foreign), the Wall Street banks and the Federal Reserve, and the leftist coalition of special-interest organizations, foundations, and violence-prone agitators.

We must not let this happen. And the only way we can stop this from happening is to nationalize the election.

But what do I mean by "nationalize"?

Swamp Republican strategists like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell want Republican candidates to emphasize local issues and bland repetitions of "Republican accomplishments," move to the center, avoid "inflammatory" issues, and basically run content-free campaigns. This is a sure recipe for disaster—especially after one party wins both the presidency and Congress. Historically this almost always results in a backlash in the first midterm election during the new president's reign. This is especially true this year, with Democrats furious that President Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and determined to punish him for that crime.

The only way for conservatives to win, operating through the Republican Party, is to draw a clear contrast with the Democrats on national issues that resonate emotionally with the American public. We must BRAND the Democrats as the party of open borders, sanctuary cities protecting illegal immigrants, violent radical socialists, job-killing regulations and trade policies, a weak "lead-from-behind" foreign policy and a hollowed-out military, restrictions on our Second Amendment rights, taxpayer funding of partial birth abortions and sex selection, and higher taxes.

Nationalization is how conservatives and Republicans almost always win, and this was certainly true in 1994 and 2010. In 1994 Republicans won by adopting Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America"—national issues. And 2010 was the Tea Party insurgency against incumbents who had bailed out the culprits behind the financial meltdown of 2008, again rallying around national issues. And thanks to candidate Trump, 2016 was a stellar example of winning by nationalizing the campaign with emotionally felt issues. By making Hillary herself and "build the wall" major issues, for example, he pulled off victory when all the pundits and election experts were predicting "inevitable" defeat. Compare Trump's winning "Make America Great Again" campaign with Romney's losing content-free campaign in 2012.

Conservatives must confront and fight the Swamp Republican strategists who want content-free campaigns. That is why I am appealing for your help as a conservative leader who has influence that counts.

Several times a week, between now and November, I will post brief Victory in 2018 memos on our website, NationalizeTheElection.com, that provide examples of how we can win this year by emphasizing content-laden national issues. And each Friday morning I will send an email to you and some 5,000 other conservative leaders across the nation, calling your attention to these victory memos.

We must act as if the future of our conservative cause depends on this. Because it does.