If recent polls are to be trusted, Republican support for
Ukraine
has declined dramatically as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches. Even though a majority of Americans have consistently supported continued assistance to Ukraine, one survey last month
found
that the majority of Republicans in favor of military aid has shrunk from 80% in March of last year to 55% in December.
Republicans in Congress, however, continue to stand firmly for Ukraine. The latest aid package
passed
the Senate 88-11 and the House 368-57. It seems like everyone, including Republicans, on Capitol Hill understands that supporting Ukraine is a strategic imperative for the United States. The problem is they are doing a poor job of explaining why that is to the public.
For years now, a disconnect has been growing between Washington and the rest of America on foreign policy. Political and military leaders in the capital know that American leadership is key to preserving the world order, yet the people that world order is meant to serve increasingly question its value and the competence of those tasked with maintaining it.
But that does not mean Americans oppose every hawkish policy or that they want to see the United States withdraw from the global stage. President Joe Biden’s
approval rating
, for instance, first began to seriously decline around August 2021, the month of his foolish, ill-timed, and deadly surrender in Afghanistan. Voters do not want a
foreign policy
of retreat or national dishonor. They want a strong America acting to defend our values and interests. They just question whether Washington can deliver that strength right now.
Last week, the Heritage Foundation’s Victoria Coates published a
report
detailing ways the Biden administration should do more to shore up support for Ukraine in Congress. She urges Republicans to take the administration to task for its “timid and incremental support” over the past eight months, which suggests that the administration wants to “enable Ukraine to survive, but not to prevail.” Republicans should use their oversight powers to make the administration set terms for real victory, she argues.
Coates also contends that defeating Putin would be a major blow to our main enemy, the Chinese Communist Party. Showing Chairman Xi Jinping that his
“no limits” partnership
with Putin is fruitless in the face of NATO resolve and American power would be a major deterrent to future Chinese aggression. For example, victory in Ukraine may prevent fighting in Taiwan altogether.
Unfortunately, many Republican leaders lack Coates’s clarity about the war. Coates rightly warns that the Biden administration is “politicizing” support for Ukraine and urges the Ukrainian leadership to “restore bipartisan support for assistance to Ukraine by more proactively engaging with and addressing conservative concerns about corruption and drifting into endless war.”
Republicans in Congress can do a great deal to address those conservative concerns as well when they communicate with their constituents. As Coates says, “The American people need to be convinced that continued engagement in Ukraine is in the national interest and merits the investment of their resources.”
Too many leaders treat Americans like they cannot handle big ideas. Instead of talking about what is really at stake in foreign policy, they either speak in mindless cliches or avoid talking about these issues to their constituents altogether. This is a critical error. Our contests against China, Iran, and
Russia
are not just about economics or power politics — they are ultimately a part of a contest to decide the future of freedom itself.
Indeed, it should not be hard to sell Ukraine’s story to the public because it is a powerful testament to the idea of freedom. In the face of
unthinkable atrocities
, brave Ukrainians are continuing to fight and die to keep their country free. The men and women beating back Putin’s tyranny on the banks of the Dnipro today have much in common with the patriots who crossed the Delaware in 1776.
But more generally, Republicans need to do more to demonstrate the value of an American-led world order. After World War II, the United States led an alliance system that kept our citizens free and safe from the Soviet Union. When we finally prevailed against Russian communism, we expanded that system to ensure citizens could enjoy the peace and prosperity they won. Conservatives such as Ronald Reagan were the architects of that victory. His heirs in the Republican Party should continue to defend it.
Members of Congress clearly understand how important supporting Ukraine is — now it is time to explain why to their constituents. We can restore a shared conception of America’s role in the world. Washington just needs to communicate a renewed confidence in and reassertion of the ideals that citizens already support.
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Michael Lucchese is the founder of Pipe Creek Consulting, a communications firm based in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, he was a communications aide to U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse. He graduated from Hillsdale College in 2018, and in 2017 was a Political Studies Fellow at the Hudson Institute.
