(2024-12-12) Trumps Mixed Messaging Leaves Dems Struggling To Find A Way Forward

Trump’s mixed messaging leaves Dems struggling to find a way forward. Unlike the first time Donald Trump won the presidency, Democrats are not expecting major protests. Instead, Democrats across all levels of government are plotting more cautiously open approaches to Trump.

As they reckon with the ramifications of Trump’s resounding win, his mixed messaging on key issues is fueling uncertainty among Democratic leaders about how to adjust their approach to the president-elect as they prepare for him to return to power under markedly different political circumstances than in 2017 — when the energy and mandate, for Democrats, appeared clearer

“Right now, we’re still sorting out what he’s actually serious about,” Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman told POLITICO at the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee headquarters on Thursday. “How much will he engage in actions that are just for show, but where the results are not as impactful?”

In recent days, Trump has expressed interest in cutting a deal with Democrats to keep Dreamers in the U.S. while also vowing to end birthright citizenship.

And he has worked to diminish one of Democrats’ most potent arguments against him by repeatedly saying he is unlikely to restrict access to medication abortion.

At a DLCC event, several state legislators said Democrats back home were cautiously eyeing Trump, waiting to see how he would handle a second term before passing judgment on his intentions.

And across town, at a meeting of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee in which the main topic on the agenda was rule-setting for the upcoming chair race, outgoing DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said the party’s future successes are, in part, “linked to holding the Trump administration and MAGA Republicans accountable for the harms they will inflict on the American people.”

“The political reality is just different than 2017. He won the popular vote and the Electoral College, and a bunch of House [Democratic] members woke up after the election in Trump districts,” Russell said. “It’s not that Democrats are going to roll over, but you’re seeing Trump handled as a more conventional political opponent as opposed to the Donald Trump who we’ve been doing battle with for the last decade.” morons

In Washington, some Democratic lawmakers are opening lines of communication with billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk, who will soon be co-chief of gutting government spending. Others have praised some of Trump’s more mainstream Cabinet picks

Meanwhile, in the states, governors threatening to “fight to the death” if Trump attempts to infringe upon their constituents’ rights are also pledging publicly and in private conversations with the president-elect to find ways to work with him on infrastructure and immigration. Attorneys general preparing to fight mass deportations in court are simultaneously vowing not to stand in the way of lawful immigration enforcement.

“We’re not going to be the party of ‘no,’” said state Rep. Robert Reives, who leads Democrats in North Carolina’s General Assembly. “Question is: Does he really want to work on the issues, and is he willing to accept the help from Democrats?”

Democrats are attempting to recalibrate in a way that acknowledges the political winds on key issues — immigration, the economy — have shifted even further out of their favor. They just screwed up the messaging and the campaign.

“We are not going to win the battle of telling people that the reason that you got to vote for us in 2026 is because we’re not Trump,” Reives said.

Donna Brazile, a committee member and former acting DNC chair, pressed Harrison on whether the DNC planned to conduct a “very thorough, forensics examination of the 2024” election.... But while Harrison said the DNC was “laying the foundation” for such a review, he did not expect it to be completed before the incoming DNC chair gets selected. Of course not.