Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” was key to the 1994 rout of congressional Democrats. Under his leadership, Republicans broke 40 years of Democratic control over the House and delivered the GOP a substantial Senate majority.

How did he do it? I’ve heard him speak several times about campaign messaging. He likes to talk about identifying issues where 80% of the population agrees with you and then just stand next to those and look pretty. You may have a wide range of messages that your base likes, but the ones you choose to spend your time and money on during the campaign are those people like most.