Cass Column Argues Both Parties Offer Anger, Not Agenda, in 2026

A New York Post opinion column published Oct. 29 by writer Oren Cass reported that both major parties are campaigning in the 2026 midterms on messages centered on opposing each other rather than on specific policy proposals, according to the column.

The comparison point Cass uses is the 1994 "Contract with America," when 367 Republican congressional candidates signed on to eight government reforms and 10 policy proposals under then-Rep. Newt Gingrich, helping the party win its first House majority in 40 years, Cass wrote.

What is the House GOP's 2026 campaign message?

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans are running on a message Cass calls the "Contrast for America," summarized in the party's own capitalized language as "THE 2026 MIDTERMS ARE A CONTRAST FOR AMERICA BETWEEN COMMON SENSE AND CRAZY," according to the column. Cass characterized the message as amounting to "little beyond calling the other guys worse," rather than a policy platform comparable to the 1994 document.

What does the Democratic National Committee say its top priority is?

The DNC lists "lower costs" as its top agenda item for 2026, Cass reported, but the party's stated plan is "to bring an end to Republican chaos and incompetence, ensuring that Americans can comfortably cover their everyday expenses," according to DNC language quoted in the column. Cass wrote that opposing President Trump is "by far the top reason" Democratic midterm voters give for their voting decision this cycle, though the column does not cite a specific survey or sample size for that claim.

What polling does the column cite on voter sentiment?

Cass cited a Gallup question asking voters to name "the most important problem facing this country today," reporting that "poor government leadership" topped the list by a margin of more than double the share who named cost of living. Cass also wrote that corruption has "suddenly become the top issue for voters," though the column does not specify the Gallup survey's sample size or field dates. Both major parties are described in the column as being near the low point of two-decade declines in favorability, a trend Cass attributed to voter fatigue rather than policy disagreement.

How does Trump's $5,000 payment proposal fit into the critique?

Cass singled out President Trump's campaign promise to pay every adult $5,000 if his political allies win as the midterm cycle's "signature policy proposal," calling it "a vulgar non-idea" that is also unpopular. The column reported that the proposal receives positive reviews from 21% of voters, a figure Cass said makes it more unpopular than only one other idea tested — building data centers.

What timeline does the column draw between 1994 and now?

• 1994: 367 Republican candidates sign the "Contract with America," an eight-reform, 10-proposal platform credited with the GOP's first House majority in 40 years, per the column.
• One week before the 2026 election: The DNC's homepage features photos of former President Barack Obama, who last ran for office more than a decade earlier, Cass wrote.
• Oct. 29, 2026: Cass's column runs in the New York Post, arguing that neither party has replaced anger-driven messaging with a concrete governing agenda comparable to 1994.

Cass argued that campaigns built on "angrily saying nothing" may still produce short-term wins — "if only because someone has to win" — but provide no governing basis, leading instead to repeated wave elections and a change in the Oval Office every four years, according to the column. The published excerpt of the piece introduces a section Cass titles "A new 'liberty,'" framing political exhaustion rather than polarization as the underlying problem, though the available text does not detail the specific citizenship-agenda proposals referenced in the piece's headline.

The column does not identify any on-the-record response from the DNC, the RNC, Speaker Johnson's office, or the Trump campaign to the characterizations in the piece. HTT News has not independently verified the Gallup figures or the 21% approval figure for the $5,000 payment proposal beyond their citation in the Post column.